"Phablets" Will Surpass 208 Million Shipments Annually in 2015

You might have noticed, recently, that there is plenty of experimentation around form factors in both the tablet and smart phone markets, with each category containing devices that are migrating in a direction in the middle, namely smart phones with bigger screens and tablets with smaller screens.

Though cost reduction and portability might be reasons for creating seven-inch tablets, better content consumption experience might be the reason for crafting smart phones with screens in the five-inch range.

More than 208 million "phablets," a hybrid device that is larger than a smartphone but smaller than a tablet, like the Samsung Galaxy Note, will be shipped globally in 2015, says ABI Research.

Despite the slow start for phablet smart phones in 2011, HTC, LG, and Huawei each will introduce phablet smart phones in 2012, joining the ranks of Samsung’s Galaxy Note and Nexus. Additionally, another phablet smartphone was released earlier this month, the Samsung Galaxy S3, according to ABI Research.

“One of the chief drivers for phablets is the amount of time people use their smartphones for web browsing, reading articles and newspapers on the go, or simply navigating their journeys,” says ABI Research senior analyst Joshua Flood. “The larger screen sizes make a significant difference to the user’s experience when compared to conventional-sized touchscreens between 3.5 to 4 inches.”