You would think that phablets are niche products reserved for the folks with huge hands. Perhaps that’s right but apparently there are quite a few of those people out there.
According to the latest Juniper Research report “Tablets, Phablets, Hybrids & eReaders: Market Strategies & Forecasts 2014-2018,” global phablet shipments will surpass 120 million units by 2018, rising from an estimated 20 million last year.
These sort of devices will find particularly receptive in East Asian territories such as South Korea where content streamers and gamers want a higher quality / bigger screen.
In addition, the report says that the phablet market could become a growth area for established smartphone vendors, allowing them to build flagship devices targeting tech-heavy demographics. Among the companies entering this space are Nokia, Alcatel and Intex, indicating that it [market] has the potential to grow from both ends of the price spectrum.
Finally, Juniper says that the OS market for phablets will be dominated by two major players, Android and Windows, though that could quickly change if Apple launches a big iPhone later this year…