Apple
is rumored to be working on at least one, and possibly two, iPhone
models with larger screens. Rumored to arrive later this year, these
models will enter a growing market of large-screened phones, which
according to a recent Canalys report numbered
90 million in the quarter.Overall, these larger phones accounted for a
third of all smartphones sold globally in Q1 2013.
This super-sized smartphone category was wildly popular,
with the market for these large-screened devices growing 369 percent
year-over-year. For the big phones, the sweet spot is between 5.0 to
5.5-inches, with only 12 percent of phones exceeding the 5.5-inch size.
The largest group (66 percent) are still those phones with a screen
smaller than 5-inches.
Smart phones with 5″ and larger screens grew 369% – a substantially greater rate of growth than the overall market. Worldwide, they represented just over a third of shipments (34%), and in Greater China the figure hit 39%, and 43% in Asia Pacific.[...]
Consumers now expect high-end devices to have large displays, and Apple’s absence in this market will clearly not last long. It is notable that 5″ and above displays featured on almost half (47%) of smart phones with an unlocked retail price of US$500 or more. Of the remaining 53% of high-end smart phones, 87% were iPhones.
Documents released during Apple’s latest patent infringement trial with Samsung show that Apple is aware of consumer interest in a large-screen smartphone. Apple’s response to this demand may come in the form of a 4.7-inch iPhone 6 in the fall, followed by a 5.5-inch model several months later.
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