Phablets becoming pass in Asia: Consumers now prefer tablets with voice calling feature

Large smartphones, also known as phablets, are already a growing trend in Asia, having outshipped notebooks and tablets last year. But the market analyst firm IDC finds that now even larger devices, tablets of 7-inch screen sizes and above, are increasingly shipping with cellular voice capabilities, and such devices are getting more traction in the Asia/Pacific excluding Japan (APeJ) region, breaching the 25 percent mark in the second quarter of 2014.

About 13.8 million units of tablets were shipped in the APeJ region in Q2 2014, of which nearly 25 percent (around 3.5 million units) had voice calling over cellular networks as an option built-in to the device.
This translates to more than 60 percent growth on a year-on-year basis in unit terms for this category of tablets, which also incidentally happen to be 100 percent Android-based.
“Tablets that allow voice calls over cell networks have been around for a while now, as the first generation of Samsung Tabs did have that option, albeit only activated through a Bluetooth headset,” says Avinash K. Sundaram, senior market analyst of client devices team, IDC Asia/Pacific.

More from Biztech

Future Group - Reliance Retail Deal approved by CCI RBI ban on cryptocurrencies takes effect; prohibition could force investors to tap the black market

That said, this segment has seen a surge in terms of both shipments and vendors since the beginning of this year, with shipments reaching close to 50 percent by share of overall markets in some emerging countries, India and Indonesia being two great examples.

“This shift highlights the sustained interest among consumers, at least in emerging markets, to have a single mobile device for all their needs - be it watching movies and soap operas, taking pictures, texting or making calls, even if the device has a huge 7-inch screen on it. It also helps that these devices are quite affordable, playing in the entry-to-mainstream price bands in most markets,” Sundaram adds.

IDC believes this trend shift will continue to gain momentum, as these devices are addressing a real consumer need - a single converged mobile device that is also a great value for money. “For now, it does look like the Asian love for bigger screens is set to continue,” Sundaram concludes.