It seems that every other smartphone phone revealed these days is a phone/tablet hybrid. The popularity of the Galaxy Note 2, the hype around the Galaxy Note 3 and devices such as LG's Optimus G Pro all point to the idea that phablets have become very popular. Even the Galaxy S4 clocks in at 5 inches, which, while on the lower end of the phablet spectrum, still qualifies as a phablet.
But is the popularity surrounding phablets just a fad?
According to the research group Flurry, the Galaxy Note line-up and its competitors, such as the Optimus G Pro, should count their blessings, because they aren't all that popular relative to their smaller counterparts.
Flurry tracks about 1 billion smartphones and tablets worldwide every month. During March, it registered activity on more than 2,000 unique device models, and found that phablets (smartphones with screen sized between 5 inches and 6.9 inches) only made up 2 percent of all models used. Medium phones (devices like the iPhone with screens between 3.5 and 4.9 inches), meanwhile, composed 69 percent of all models (including tablets).
Under the headline of "Mid-Sized Smartphones Dominate. Phablets are a Fad," Flurry's Mary Ellen Gordon writes that, "The 'Is it a phone or is it a tablet' devices otherwise known as phablets have attracted interest, but currently command a relatively small share (2%) of the device installed base, and their share of active users and sessions is also relatively small."
So we know what Flurry thinks about phablets, but are they right? It's undeniably true that phablets don't make up the majority of the market right now, but the products are still relatively new, and there hasn't been much diversity in the field just yet. Even detractors of phablets can't deny that the "2 percent" number is going to shoot up significantly once the Galaxy S4 comes out. It's the first flagship Galaxy device to enter phablet territory, and as more and more hit the market (the HTC One comes to mind; heck, even the iPhone 6 is rumored to clock in at 5 inches), it wouldn't be surprising to see this debate revisited by the end of the year.
