Customers in emerging market like having a device that can do multiple things

Aug 20, 2014 11:45 GMT  ·  By

If you thought phablets were weird and never got accustomed to seeing people talking on these huge smartphones, listen to this.

According to analyst firm IDC, people in Asia aren't satisfied by the phablet phone factor anymore and they are going bigger. As shown in the research, tablets with screens of 7-inch and larger with phone calling capabilities are starting to get a lot of attention in the region (excluding Japan).

Apparently, they have managed to reach the 25% threshold in Q2, growing with up to 15% from the first quarter of the year.

Furthermore, we’re told that out of the total 13.8 million tablets shipped in the region during the second quarter of the year, 3.5 million boasted voice calling over cellular networks.

IDC mentions that compared to Q2 of last year, tablet shipments from this category have increased with over 60%. However, these numbers don’t necessarily show thatpeople are actually talking on tablets but that device manufacturers are producing such slates and people are buying them.

Even if tablets with voice calling capabilities aren't a new thing and have been around ever since the first Samsung Tab device, a surge in sales coming from this category has been spotted in recent times.

In Asia, the strongest markets for phone tabs seem to be India and Indonesia. Just today we told you about the new iBall Slide 3G 1026-Q18 which is a new and quite affordable 10.1-inch slate that was launched in India, which comes with Android 4.4 KitKat out of the box and with voice calling.

In these countries, IDC says shipments of cellular voice tabs have skyrocketed and are coming close to holding 50% of overall shipments.

Why have people suddenly become interested in these tabs? Folks in emerging markets value a device that can be used for multiple functions, especially if it comes with a budget friendly price.

So people will jump at the opportunity to purchase a 10-incher like the one mentioned above, if they can use it for watching movies, browsing the web, calling friends or taking selfies, albeit the form factor being a tad too much to accommodate certain functions.

It’s not impossible to take photos with a large tab, but it’s not comfortable either. The same can be said of the phone calling feature.

IDC expects the trend to continue to flourish at least in emerging markets. Have you considered buying a phone-capable tablet yet?