(Yicai Global) April 24 -- Realme, a Chinese smartphone maker that was set up a year ago, said it plans to enter its home market after having succeeded in Southeast Asia.

The handsets will go on sale in China soon, the Shenzhen-based company's founder and Global Chief Executive Sky Li said today through his personal Weibo social media account. The brand will target younger users, he added.

Chinese consumers can already find Realme's flagship stores on three major e-commerce platforms: JD, Suning, and Tmall, which is operated by online retail giant Alibaba Group Holding. But its products have yet to hit the market. The brand is available in 10 countries, including Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Egypt.

Realme's entry will likely dial up the competition in China where prices of Huawei Technologies' Honor brand, Xiaomi's Redmi as well as handsets from Lenovo, Meizu and other producers are around CNY1,000 (USD148.80).

Last May, Dongguan-based handset maker Oppo debuted Realme and aimed it at the Indian market. Three months later, Li, who was then vice president overseeing the sub-brand, announced his resignation and decided to take Realme independent.

Realme became India's fourth-ranking handset brand in the fourth quarter after its market share reached 8 percent, surpassing Oppo's 7 percent, according to a report published in January by Hong Kong-based Counterpoint Research. China's Xiaomi took the top slot with 27 percent.