iPhone 6 Plus Grabs Almost Half Of US Phablet Market
In the three months ending in October this year, the iPhone 6 Plus managed to reach 41 percent of the sales of smartphones with screen sizes 5.5 inches and above, commonly regarded as phablets. This is a rather strange victory for Apple because while it does prove that consumers will flock to their devices no matter how novel or unusual it is, like this biggest iPhone ever, it also proves that there is indeed a market for a device category that the company, especially under Jobs' tenure, has been shunning and even ridiculing.
Phablets aren't the easiest to handle with one hand, unlike all the iPhones before this year's generation. That has been Apple's rallying cry ever since it introduced the smartphone, belittling everyone else's race for bigger screens. But apparently it was precisely that feature that drove Apple's faithful to grab the iPhone 6 Plus instead. Although the iPhone 6 itself is already bigger than the iPhone 5s, the 5.5-inch phablet gives even more screen space. Add to that Apple's popular display prowess, and you've got a phablet fit for both multimedia consumption and creation.
Phablets themselves grew exponentially this year, rising to 10 percent of the overall smartphone market compared to 2 percent from the same period last year. The fact that the iPhone 6 Plus single-handedly conquered almost half of that should cause some worry among other major OEMs who have similar large products. Samsung, for example, is already in the hot seat, with its almost-phablet Galaxy S5 not reaching its market expectations. The actual phablet Galaxy Note 4 has yet to make a dent there as well, given it hasn't been out too long yet.
Those who remain unbelievers in the phablet promise need not worry yet. The non-phablet iPhone 6 still reigns in every Apple user's heart, being best-selling iPhone model yet. Naturally, the iPhone 5s placed second with 26 percent of iOS sales. Surprisingly, the iPhone 5c is a rather distant third with 18 percent. The iPhone 6 Plus, on the other hand, only got 10 percent of the sales.
VIA: Kantar Worldpanel