Phablets get a Thumbs-down; Tablets still ahead

There was a time when a smartphone that was 4-inch big and was considered too big to carry, but soon after the launch of 'Phablets', or mobile devices between 5 to 6 inches in size - the concept of big has changed!

While phablets cater to a niche group of consumers looking for a more immersive user experience on a mobile device small enough to fit in their palm, it is unlikely to attract a majority of consumers, an analyst at research firm Gartner Inc said.

CK Lu, senior research analyst of mobile devices at Gartner in Taipei, said such devices provide more choice for multi device owners, but the opportunities they offer in the near term may not be as large as some companies imagine.

For example, Asian consumers prefer carrying only one mobile device because of their limited budget for electronic products, so phablet devices are gaining popularity in this area, he said.
However, in the US and Europe, people often carry 4.5 inch to 5 inch smartphones, as well as 7-inch tablet computers, when going out because they want to be able to separate the functions of a phone and a tablet, Lu said.

The key to making this segment successful is creating applications that take advantage of the large screen, such as those developed by handset makers Samsung Electronics Co of South Korea and Huawei Technologies Co of China, Lu added.

Many Industries that are already using tablets like logistics and retail, would be a natural adopters of phablets. With Samsung introducing a pen along with its phablet, industries that require signatures or have many documents to sign such as insurance and sales, would also find the phablet useful.

There are a few benefits like large screen with which apps and website can be displayed better, less eye-strain and s-pen where user can write down notes. All these make phablets much a head of tablets and smartphones but along with the advantages there are some disadvantage too. They're usually too big to be used one-handed. They might not fit in pockets comfortably. And phablets might cause some strain when used as an actual telephone against one's ear.

Analyst believe that growth will gradually slow down from 2014 onward, and expects phablets to comprise around 25 % of smartphone shipments in 2018. The question is-whether phablets will be able to take over tablets or not?