Rise of the Phablets, as Oversize Phones Make up 20 per cent of Market by 2019

  • Wednesday, January 28th, 2015
  • Author: Tim Maytom
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Huawei Ascend Mate 6.1 PhabletOver 400m phablets are predicted to ship in 2019, a 300 per cent increase over the 138m devices expected to ship in 2015, driven by the spotlight brought to the category by the iPhone 6 Plus and the growth of budget phablets.

The market has seen a steady increase in smartphone screen sizes, with more and more flagship smartphones likely to fall into the phablet category (with screens between 5.5 and 6.9 inches) over the next two to three years.

As smartphones are increasingly used to consume media content and play games, larger screens are sought more and more by consumers. The growth of large screens also hurts the tablet market, with phablet owners less likely to purchase smaller-screened tablets and put off by the high price of larger models.

The figures come from a report by Juniper Research, which also found that use of phablets in enterprise situations is likely to increase in the coming years, with vendors offering productivity software as standard with certain devices.

“The same chips can now power any mobile device, from smartphones to laptops” said James Moar, author of the report. “Hardware capabilities are blurring, with devices like cellular-connected tablets, phablets and smartphones with console-level graphics and sound systems becoming much more common. This shifts device design parameters to budgets and use cases, rather than technological features.”