Large-screen smart phones (Phablets) accounted for 22% of the overall shipments during the third quarter of 2013, which is about 56 million units out of quarter of a billion smart phones shipped, a new Canalys report reveals.
Of the overall 56 million units shipped during the quarter, 66% of them featured a 5" display, 31% with screens between 5" and 6", while 3% of them had 6" or larger screens.
Canalys research analyst Jingwen Wang said: "The 6"-plus segment will be boosted next quarter by Nokia’s arrival, but this market won’t develop quickly unless Samsung invests marketing dollars to push its Galaxy Mega range."
Samsung and Apple dominated the phablet market during the quarter with respective market shares of 34% and 15%, followed by Huawei, Lenovo and LG.
The research firm also anticipates that the smart phones boasting screens between 4.1" and 5" would dominate in 2014 as they offer the best balance between portability and legibility.
Over 2014, Asia Pacific would continue to have the highest demand for large-screen smart phones because of the nature of emerging markets in it.
During the quarter, overall global smartphone shipments reached 250 million, as the market also rose 44% year-on-year.
Regionally, Greater China reported highest growth of 64% by shipping about 100 million units and accounting for 39% of the global market, followed by Latin America with 59% growth.
The Europe, the Middle East and Africa was the second largest region after Greater China with 56 million units being shipped during Q3, up 22%.
Shares of Android and iOS remained constant during the quarter, while Microsoft improved its market share to 4% in Q3.
