Asians will make calls on a tablet rather than carry two devices: IDC

Large smartphones, or phablets outshipped notebooks and tablets in Asia last year. But Asian users are making calls on even larger devices, says IDC. Tablets, which IDC categorises as mobile devices with 7” or larger screen sizes*, are increasingly shipping with cellular voice capabilities, and getting more traction in the Asia/Pacific excluding Japan (APeJ) region.

According to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker report, about 13.8 million units of tablets were shipped in the APeJ region in Q2 2014, of which nearly 25% (around 3.5 million units) had voice calling over cellular networks as an option built into the device. This translates to more than 60% growth on a year-on-year basis in unit terms for this category of tablets, all of which are Android-based.

“Tablets that allow voice calls over cell networks have been around for a while now, as the first generation of Samsung Tabs did have that option, albeit only activated through a Bluetooth headset,” says Avinash Sundaram, Senior Market Analyst of Client Devices at IDC Asia/Pacific.

That said, this segment has seen a surge in terms of both shipments and vendors since the beginning of this year, with shipments reaching close to 50% by share of overall markets in some emerging countries, notably India and Indonesia among them.

This shift highlights the sustained interest among consumers, at least in emerging markets, to have a single mobile device for all their needs – be it watching movies and soap operas, taking pictures, texting or making calls, even if the device has a relatively large screen. "It also helps that these devices are quite affordable, playing in the entry-to-mainstream price bands in most markets,” Sundaram adds.

IDC believes this trend shift will continue to gain momentum, as these devices are addressing a real consumer need – a single converged mobile device that is also a great value for money. “For now, it does look like the Asian love for bigger screens is set to continue,” Sundaram concluded.

*IDC defines devices with screen sizes of 7” and above as tablets, and those with screens below 7” as mobile phones.