Dubai: Lenovo has joined the giant phablet (phone-tablet combo) craze after Sony, Samsung and Hisense by unveiling its 6.8-inch smartphone in Dubai.
Sony had launched its Xperia Ultra with 6.4 inches while Samsung had launched its Galaxy Mega with 6.3 inches and Hisense X1 with 6.8 inches.
Jeff Meredith, general manager and vice-president of tablet business unit at Lenovo, said that people make calls on the phone only for seven per cent of the time. The dynamics and the call behaviour have changed. Calls have become an “emergency or annoyance”.
He said that calling actually ranks behind browsing the internet, checking social networks, listening to music and playing games as preferred smartphone activities — blurring the distinction between phones and tablets.
According to studies, he said that people are using a phone to watch videos (18 per cent), trolling social media (13 per cent), playing games (12 per cent), keeping up with news (10 per cent), reading books (7 per cent), watching sports (7 per cent) and using the camera (3 per cent).
“The purchasing behaviour of people has changed. Phones with screen sizes of six inches and above are growing worldwide, especially emerging markets. We are targeting people under 30 years who spends a lot of time on a phone and spends time travelling back and forth to work,” he said.
Quoting a research firm International Data Corporation report, he said that the six-inch and above devices have grown 148 per cent year on year globally and 169 per cent in the Middle East and Africa region.
“We are going to capitalise on the growth opportunities,” Meredith said.
With today’s tech-savvy millennial generation in mind, he said that Lenovo is addressing the popularity of larger-screen personal devices, while acknowledging the portability struggles associated with tablet computers.
The 4G LTE Phab Plus is powered by Snapdragon 615 processor with 2GB of RAM and runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop. The camera on the back is 13MP and the front has 5MP. The dual-SIM device features 32GB of storage and can be expanded via microSD card.
The phone is priced at Dh999 and will be available from October 8.
Lenovo sold 84.03 million devices last year globally but failed to meet its target of 100 million.
Regarding this, he said that Lenovo is trying to “turnaround the mobile business” after acquiring Motorola Mobility. Our focus right now is to stabilise the mobile business.
“We expect to see a strong growth this year after acquiring Motorola,” Meredith said.
