The phablet - larger than a phone, smaller than a tablet - will see global shipments increase by a factor of 10 in 2012 from last year, according to ABI Research. The company, which defines these devices as having a touchscreen size between 4.6 and 5.5 inches, expects more than 208 million phablets to be shipped globally in 2015.
Joshua Flood. senior analyst at ABI Research, said “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. 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.”
HTC, LG and Huawei are all planning phablet releases in 2012, joining Samsung’s Galaxy Note, Nexus and S3 handsets.
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