Dubai: Smartphones with screen sizes of 5.5-inch and above, also known as phablets, are emerging as the next big trend in the market with Apple entering the segment.
“The phablet market is going to boom with Apple’s entry. Most of the smartphone growth is going to come from this [phablet] segment,” said Nadeem Khanzadah, head of retail at Jumbo Electronics.
He said the phablet market is going to witness the same change that had happened in the TV segment. Couple of years ago, people bought 32-inch TVs, now they are upgrading to bigger screen sizes.
“What was good enough couple of years back is not good enough anymore. Today, more than five-inch screen size handsets contribute around 20 per cent to our mobile phone sales and will grow to 50 per cent in the next one year,” he said.
Samsung launched the trend with its Galaxy Note (5.3-inch) in 2011 and other manufactures followed suit. Chinese manufacturer Hisense has launched the 6.8-inch X1 in the market. Every other manufacturer has models in that segment and also in more than six inches.
According to an International Data Corporation (IDC) report, phablets will grow the fastest in the smart, connected devices segment by an annual growth rate of 60 per cent in the next four years globally compared to 5.5 per cent in the smartphone sector.
Nabila Popal, research manager at IDC, said there is room for growth in the phablet segment and that that has been seen in the last year or so. Since Apple has entered the bigger screen size late, competition will be there as other vendors have already launched in that segment with bigger screen sizes.
An industry expert said that the trend is slowing moving towards people taking their seven-inch tablet with calling facility to their ears as it is cheap.
Right now a decent branded phablet costs above Dh1,599 but a decent tablet with calling facility will cost only around Dh499.
The trend of using tablet as a phone has gained traction in the Asia-Pacific region and is spreading to other emerging markets.
Neelesh Bhatnagar, Chief Executive Officer, Emax Electronics, said that trend is very unlikely to happen in the region soon but time will tell.
In the UAE, he said that people would like to use phablet as a phone and tablet as a tablet. “Each consumer product will have its own use and users. Convergence will not happen soon in the tablet and smartphone space,” he said.
Phablets will experience a year-on-year growth of more than 200 per cent globally with Apple’s entry.
This year, phablets are expected to represent just 14 per cent of the total smartphone market, but their share will be more than double in 2018, when it will reach 32.2 per cent.
However, as it grows, Popal said that Apple with its new and larger phones, will be there to capture that growth and give vendors that have previously succeeded in that segment without Apple, some tough competition.
“The phablet market is still immature as the industry is still so new. Since the handset market has changed a lot within one year, consumers will need some time to find the optimum size. I feel 5.5—5.7 inch screen size seems to be more comfortable and easier to adapt to than the larger six-inch plus size,” she said.
She said that the market share of 4.5-inch and above screen sizes grew from 19 per cent in the first quarter of last year in the UAE to 40 per cent in the second of this year.
Emax’s Bhatnagar said that despite the growth in big screen smartphones, not many would prefer sizes of 5.5 inches or more.
“Screen size of 5 inch is ideal to hold in the hand and portable, and many branded and unbranded manufacturers are eyeing for a market pie. The phablet segment is very competitive and becoming very aggressive,” he said.
