Last updated on July 13th, 2015 at 04:31 pm
New data has emerged revealing phablet devices were by far the fastest growing mobile segment between January 2014 and January 2015.
Phablets are often describes as large smartphones, such as the iPhone 6 Plus and the Samsung Galaxy Note. Despite their supersized screens, they can still fit in your pocket, unlike a tablet.
This new data from Flurry Analytics reports while medium smartphones have increased their market share by about one-third (38%) and small tablets have boosted their share by 14%, phablets have increased their market share by nearly 150% year-over-year, as Bizreports writes.
“While it may seem, given the name, that phablets are simply the middle ground between a smartphone and a tablet, it is a game-changing form factor. It is a killer media-consumption device. Looking at [the data], you might argue that the phablet is taking market share from the tablet, but if you seek the true victim of the phablet, it is the mobile web,” writes the report authors. “Since the ascension of phablets, the total time spent in apps compared to mobile web picked up an additional 2%, increasing total time spent in apps to 88% of total time spent on mobile in the US, versus 12% on the mobile web. This is compared to 86% and 14% respectively in April of 2014. Our data shows that this shift is predominantly attributed to phablets.”
Flurry also described the phablet as a “game-changer” and the “killer media-consumption device.”
An earlier forecast by IDC predicts total shipments of phablets (defined by IDC as having screens measuring 5.5 to 7 inches) will increase from 175 million in 2014 to 318 million this year — exceeding forecasts for tablet shipments of 233 million this year.
Photo via Apple
