Realme confirms exit from UK phone market

Realme, a Chinese tech company that offers low-cost Android smartphones, many of which we have reviewed here in the site,  has withdrawn from the UK market. The company said in a statement that it was suspending the sales and marketing of its products through Realme UK channels.

This decision was not surprising, as Realme had not released a new phone in the UK since the GT 2 and GT 2 Pro in March 2022. The company had planned to launch the Realme GT 3 in Europe after showcasing it at MWC 2023 in Barcelona, but that never happened.

This year, Realme is absent from the official MWC 2024 exhibitor list, even though it has introduced new devices such as the Realme 12 Pro+ and Realme GT5 Pro..

In addition, the Realme UK website only takes you to the support page, and the X (previously Twitter) account has been inactive since August 2022.

Even though some Realme products like the Realme C31 are still available from retailers such as Currys, we decided to investigate the matter conclusively.

Realme, which used to be a sub-brand of Oppo, became a separate company in 2018. It started launching products in the UK in 2019, and soon established a remarkable range of smartphones, accessories and other devices.

Realme has struggled to compete in the UK due to the dominance of Apple and Samsung. Statcounter reports that those two companies accounted for more than 80% of the UK smartphone market in January 2024.

Realme’s departure from the UK does not seem to be linked to its withdrawal from Germany in 2023, which was caused by a patent conflict between its parent company BBK and Nokia. Oppo and OnePlus have also left the German market for the same reason, but the latter remains very active in the UK despite some difficulties with the Nord 3 launch.