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Madhav Sheth elevated to lead realme brand expansion in Latin America
Mumbai: Chinese smartphone brand realme has elevated its vice president (VP) and India and Europe CEO Madhav Sheth to spearhead the company’s business operations in the Latin America region.
Under the new designation of realme VP and India, Europe and Latin America CEO, Sheth will lead the product, marketing, brand-building, and sales functions in these regions, the company said in a statement on Thursday.
In Mexico and Brazil, realme will prioritise product development, which is always a top priority for the company and will aim towards building a strong local workforce in the Latin American region. In addition, realme will optimise its market and channel strategies in Mexico and Brazil.
“Under Sheth’s stewardship, realme has ascended to the top five vendors in Europe in Q2 2021 as per Strategy Analytics, and the company plans to do the same in Mexico and Brazil next year,” the brand said.
According to a report by Counterpoint Research, realme now ranks among the top six smartphone brands globally. It is the fastest brand ever to reach 100 million shipments in the history of the global smartphone market, as per Strategy Analytics. The brand ranks among the top five smartphone makers in 18 markets in Q2 2021, as per Canalys.
“The foray into a new and promising market reflects realme’s vision to bring trendsetting technology and leapfrogging performance to the consumers in the region, enabling it to achieve its ambition of gaining dual 100 million users by 2023 and build its way to a leading tech brand,” realme said.
MAM
Paramount set to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in $81 billion deal
Shareholders back merger, combined entity could reshape streaming and studios.
MUMBAI: Lights, camera… consolidation, Hollywood’s latest blockbuster might be happening off-screen. Shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery have voted in favour of selling the company to Paramount in a deal valued at $81 billion rising to nearly $111 billion including debt setting the stage for one of the biggest shake-ups in modern media. The proposed merger, still subject to regulatory approvals, would bring together a vast portfolio spanning HBO Max, CNN, and franchises such as Harry Potter under the same umbrella as Paramount’s own heavyweights, including Top Gun and CBS.
At the heart of the deal is streaming scale. Executives have indicated plans to combine HBO Max and Paramount+ into a single platform, potentially creating a stronger challenger to giants like Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video. Current market data suggests HBO Max holds around 12 per cent of US on-demand subscriptions, compared to Paramount+’s 3 per cent, together still trailing Netflix’s 19 per cent and Disney’s combined 27 per cent via Disney+ and Hulu.
Paramount CEO David Ellison has signalled that while platforms may merge, HBO’s creative identity will remain intact, stating the brand should “stay HBO” even within a broader ecosystem.
Beyond streaming, the deal would redraw the map for film production. Combining two of Hollywood’s oldest studios Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., the new entity aims to scale output to over 30 films annually, while maintaining a 45-day theatrical window. Warner Bros. currently commands around 21 per cent of the US box office, compared to Paramount’s 6 per cent, underscoring the strategic weight of the acquisition.
But scale comes with scrutiny. Critics warn that fewer players could mean reduced consumer choice, rising subscription costs, and potential job cuts as the combined company looks to streamline overlapping operations while managing billions in debt.
The news business, too, faces a reset. CNN would join forces at least structurally with Paramount-owned CBS, raising questions about editorial independence and positioning. The merger has already drawn political attention in the United States, particularly given perceived ties between the Ellison family and Donald Trump, though the company maintains that newsroom autonomy will be preserved.
If approved, the deal would mark another milestone in Hollywood’s consolidation wave shrinking the industry’s traditional “big six” studios to a “big four”, with Paramount joining Disney, Universal, and Sony at the top table.
In an industry built on storytelling, this merger may well become its most consequential plot twist yet.
