The future is big for phablets - at work and at play
September 11, 2014
There was a time, not long ago, when the sight of someone making a call on a giant 'phablet' phone drew second glances and smirks.
The first hybrid tablet-phones with 5"-7" screens were something of an oddity - too big for pocket or comfortable calling and apparently too small to compete with the mighty tablets.
However, a new report by Flurry has just shown that phablets are on the rise, challenging both normal-sized phones and full-size tablets.
Their results show that the number of phablets in the market has more than quadrupled in the past 18 months. And, furthermore, users of phablets - for example the new iPhone 6 Plus, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, the Nokia Lumia 1520 and the HTC One Max - command a disproportionate share of active device use.
While the transition from laughing stock to very significant trend leader seems remarkable, when you consider the issue, it makes perfect sense.
An insider from one of the big phablet manufacturers said: "We aren't surprised by this at all. We've seen huge increased demand from customers because they want to engage with content in a meaningful way on mobile.
"People are engaging differently - they use voice conversations less because they want to interact with other, more visual, types of content. They don't call, they text, or use the likes of Facebook or WhatsApp. They want multi-faceted communication.
"We are moving towards a future where complex messages are being passed quickly and being distributed to a user's different screens. It's going to be a seamless experience between mobile devices of different sizes from wearables to full-size tablets.
"This shift has already begun, but it's going to increase. Individuals are already embracing the change, but enterprise is going to have to catch up."
The notion of a work mobile phone is well established and the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is taking hold as forward-looking enterprises establish protocols or use bespoke secure workflow solutions.
However, adding phablets to the equation - particularly considering how quickly they have been adopted - makes the need for enterprise and other organisations to take action much more important.
Kashif Khan, VP Business Development at ENTWRX, said: "We are the experts in secure mobile communications and in many ways it doesn't matter what the device. We have seen our technology run on everything from a wrist watch to smart TVs with all the varying shades and resolutions in between.
"Our document rendering technology is designed to be versatile and offers an identical experience whatever the device, based on the mantra 'user experience matters' - we want users to be free to make their choices.
"The versatility and popularity of this new generation of larger phone only underlines the need to have high-quality professional solutions in place and we're in a great position to answer the call when it matters."