This report expects Superphones & Phabblet to account for revenues of $46BN in 2013

Friday 7 June 2013, Amsterdam

Gone are the days when mobile handset manufacturers would compete over who could make the most compact device. Screen size has become the most compelling real-estate in mobile device marketing and manufacturers are capitalising on falling display panel costs to deliver larger, sharper images on mobile phones. As such we have determined that superphones will represent global revenue of $46 billion in 2013.

In the last year, tier one mobile device manufacturers have made successive leaps onto the superphone bandwagon. Defined as high-performance smartphones with displays over 4.6” diagonally, superphones have found prominence within the product line of vendors and operators alike.

Average screen size of flagship phones has been steadily increasing, as has consumer demand for media-geared mobile devices capable of handling a data-rich application environment associated with next-generation networks. Tidal transitions are occurring within consumer telecommunications. Vendors and devices that best mitigate the transition to LTE, flexible displays, and HTML5 have a golden opportunity to demarcate their offerings from the rest of the pack.

Still fresh from the advent of tablets, vendors are yet again faced with the birth of a new device market. As has been demonstrated by HP and BlackBerry’s tablet misfires, the cost of failure goes beyond capital investment in a specific product. It now extends to whole operating platforms, ecosystems, and brands.

Mobile phones have ceased to be mere communication devices. As mobile infrastructure moves into its fourth-generation of standards, smart device manufacturers are building comprehensive entertainment platforms. These are hybrid devices, comprising equal parts phone, personal computer, gaming console, personal organiser, Web browser, and media playback system. As lines between these product categories become increasingly blurred, the challenge for equipment vendors will be to accomplish the opposite: forming a solid, tangible identity through these remarkably catchall devices.

The World Superphone Market 2013-2018: ‘Phablets’ Bridging the Gap Between Smartphones & Tablets forecasts the performance of superphones in developed and emerging markets. 156 unique charts, figures, and tables forecast the global shipments and revenues for superphones the shipments and revenues for superphones in 5 world regions and superphone shipments and revenues in 5 burgeoning leading national economies. Global superphones revenues are forecast by screen size between 2013-2018 for 4.6” - 4.9”, 5” - 5.5”, 5.6” - 6” and also 6.1” - 6.5” The report also forecasts the market share from 2013-2018 of 6 leading vendors of superphones and explores their products and strategies. These company profiles and an exclusive interview with Gong Yong Mun (Senior Manager, Business Strategy Team, LG Electronics Mobile Communications) offer insight into the most competitive portfolios on the mobile device market, and a portrait of the technologies that will dominate the future of mobility.

The World Superphone Market Report 2013-2018: ‘Phablets’ Bridging the Gap Between Smartphones & Tablets will be of value to current and future investors in the telecommunications, IT and computing industries, as well as companies and research centres who wish to broaden their knowledge on this subject.