realme’s Sheth likely to lead rival Honor in India
According to the sources, senior India leadership at realme is also rumoured to join Sheth in a key exodus, who is likely to spearhead Honor India's operations as CEO in the country
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New Delhi Madhav Sheth, currently VP for Business and Corporate Strategy (Global) at leading technology brand realme, is likely to soon join Honor India to revive the rival brand in the country, top sources said on Friday.
According to the sources, senior India leadership at realme is also rumoured to join Sheth in a key exodus, who is likely to spearhead Honor India's operations as CEO in the country. The director-level executives from realme's online and mainline (offline) verticals have also put in their papers, who will join Sheth at his new stint at Honor India, according to sources.
When contacted, the company did not immediately comment on the development. Importantly, Sheth was absent from the company's flagship launch event on Thursday, where it introduced Realme 11 Pro 5G series featuring two models - the 11 Pro 5G and the 11 Pro+ 5G.A
The realme 11 series was endorsed by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan as the company's new brand ambassador. In March, the company said that Sheth, who was elevated to the new role of VP for Business and Corporate Strategy (Global), would look after the India market which is strategically important for the global technology brand.
The company had said that Sheth's international background and global vision will provide forward-looking strategic guidance for realme's development in the global market. It also firmed up its Indian management team. Nisar Naikoo and Dipesh Punamiya were assigned the responsibility of independently managing the India business. Sheth, earlier the CEO of realme India, VP, realme and President, realme International Business Group, has been at the forefront of creating consumer products with trendsetting technologies, features and designs in the country.
The development at realme is significant at a time when the Indian smartphone market is going through a churn, as Apple and Samsung solidify their presence amid doubling down on local manufacturing of their products, leaving once formidable Chinese players behind in the race.
In 2020, Chinese conglomerate Huawei sold off its Honor smartphone business assets to China-based Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology Co Ltd. Last year, Honor said it was not planning to exit the Indian market, where it expanded beyond smartphones to enter the laptop segment and also launched a wearables portfolio.
"Honor is maintaining business operations in India and will continue its development," a company spokesperson had said. The company still has a sizable presence in the country, along with its service centres. Launched at Rs 42,990, the company's introductory laptop, Honor MagicBook 15, came with 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, a hidden pop-up webcam, 2-in-1 fingerprint power button and a compact 65W fast charger. Since its creation in 2013, the Honor brand has focused on the youth market by offering phones in the low- to mid-end price range.
In 2020, the company made the Honor Watch GS 3 available in India for Rs 12,990.
