Apple recently passed the 5th birthday of their revolutionary original iPad, which they described as “the most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device”. Since the initial launch, millions of sales have taken place, of both the original iPad and newer versions which have launched since. However, 2015 saw a decline in iPad sales, from a huge 26 million iPad sales in 2014, to 21.4 million in 2015. The rise of the phablet is particularly evident in the Europe, Middle East and Africa. The tablet has been replaced as the chosen web browsing passage, with countries such as Saudi Arabia encountering a 25% decrease in tablet purchases. This decline corresponds with the increasing screen-size of the latest smartphones, and the progression of smartphones into ‘phablets’.
The convenience of phablets is obvious; they have the calling, texting and HD picture-taking benefits of smartphones, as well as the web browsing benefits of tablets, all in one. The larger size of smartphones allows users to use them in a desktop position if necessary, as well as for the usual compact smartphone purposes. Phablets provide an enhanced multimedia experience, in comparison to regular sized smartphones, as well as being more portable than tablets.
Two of the world’s richest countries, China and Saudi Arabia, have both seen a rise in popularity of smartphones (particularly the latest smartphones with bigger screens), over tablets. Also, the 18 percent decrease in sales of one of the most popular tech devices ever –the iPad, reflects the rising era of the phablet.
The apparent increase in popularity of the ‘phablet’ indicates that leading manufacturers will take recent statistics into account, and give bigger-screen smartphones or phablets, even more attention in their future ventures.