The global smartphone segment has been picking up lately with 5-inch model going mainstream with prices as low as US$300-400. According to industry sources, the 5-inch smartphone market is not only attracting handset suppliers from China but also other leading international mobile manufacturing brands like LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Sony and HTC to launch new 5-inch models for the market.
To reap the benefits of the growing 5inch mobile phone market, Sony Mobile launched the Xperia C- its first entry-level 5-inch model in late June this year. Recently HTC launched three new 5-inch smartphones – the Desire 709d, Desire 7060 and Desire 7088 in China. LG is also up with plans of launching its 5.5-inch model, the LG G pro Lite in November.
Tablet vendors on the other hand have started experimenting with sizes ranging from 6.5-inch to 21.5-inch. Although, 7-inch displays are proving to be the most popular models among consumers, vendors do not want to miss opportunities from other applications. 6.5-inch tablets will rightly give competition to phablets from Samsung and Sony.
Colorful, a China based tablet vendor has launched a 13.3-inch tablet with a price tag of NT$7,000 (US $238). The device is enjoying stable sales in spite of weaker demand for 7- to 10.1-inch models notes DigiTimes.
As per some market watchers, the tablet market is expected to exceed 220 million units in 2013 and hit the 300 million mark in 2015. Many tablet vendors have started to launch 15.6- and 22-inch display tablets to compete with conventional laptops and ultrabooks.
Recently, a China based vendor released a 22-inch tablet for a price of around NT$9,000 (US $306).
Tablet vendors in future will push tablets into car electronics, enterprise, medical and other industries to replace large sized computers and notebooks, said market sources.
