Phablet – a phone/tablet hybrid – has become an industry term for a smartphone sporting a five-inch screen or larger, and IHS iSuppli says shipments of said devices will hit 60.4 million in 2013. That's equivalent to a 136 per cent year-on-year growth on the 25.6 million shipments made last year.
The data comes following last week's CES, which sawHuawei debut an enormous 6.1-inch Ascend Mate smartphone, just 2cm shy of measuring the same length as a Kindle Fire tablet.
Vinita Jakhanwal, director of small and medium displays at IHS iSuppli, said: "The move to offer larger-display smartphones reflects the efforts of both device and panel makers to differentiate their products.
"With consumers demanding more lifelike viewing experiences, the trend to offer such devices makes perfect sense, especially considering the increase in rich content that is being made available on smartphones."