Is your smartphone big enough? Until recently, mobiles were miniature, but an explosion in what we expect from a cellphone is adding a few centimetres to the size of what were once easily pocketable devices.
Welcome to the 'phablet', a portmanteau word (combining 'phone' and 'tablet') that describes any handset that has a touchscreen of between 4.6 and 5.5 inches. Fuelled by a desire to watch more videos, play more immersive games and read on a book-sized device, the phablet is so far the reserve of South Korean brand Samsung. Its 5.3-inch Galaxy Note has already sold seven million units, with the market predicted to mushroom to 208 million by 2015. Samsung's Nexus and new S3 both have phablet dimensions, and soon the likes of HTC, LG and Huawei will all follow suit.
'It's the same debate we had a decade ago, but this time it's going away from miniaturisation to bigger screen sizes,' says David Sidebottom of analyst firm Futuresource Consulting. 'Although there does come a point when it's not practical to carry in your pocket.'
It's a stark contrast to the miniaturisation fad of 2000-01, when Nokia launched tiny phones that were simple fashion items. 'They were almost too small, but some people loved having such a small handset,' says Sidebottom. 'When people started wanting to do a little bit more with their phones, they got bigger,' he says.
'The new fast networks of 3G and LTE standard have given consumers a range of interactive services that need a larger technology form factor,' says Justin Lello, CEO of Enrich Mobile, pointing to a recent marketing partnership between Samsung and Rovio's Angry Birds game, where new features and levels were available only on a Galaxy Note.
ABI Research predicts that the phablet market will increase tenfold in the next 12 months thanks to a new impetus behind the concept of a bigger screen. '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 navigating their journeys,' says analyst Joshua Flood. 'The larger screen sizes make a significant difference to the user's experience.'
Are phablets just oversized smartphones, or totally new devices? 'People are buying them as their first and primary smartphone, so they shouldn't be considered a separate category,' says Sidebottom.