Apparently most of the Android devices activated over the holiday were big ‘ol phablets
The big holiday shopping season is now officially behind us and with that, mobile analytics firm Flurry has released new data suggesting that — at least when it comes to Android devices — the form factor of choice for buyers were larger sized smartphones, also known as “phablets.”
Flurry found the segment dominated other size categories, accounting for 50% of new device activations from December 19th, through the 25th. The rest? Only 2% were full size tablets, 10% were small tablets, 3% were small phones, and medium phones accounted for 35% of activations. Before anyone jumps to a conclusion like “See: people prefer large handsets!” we should take a look what Flurry classifies as a “phablet.”
According to them, a phablet is anything above 5 inches and below 6.9 inches, a category which includes just about every major Android flagship that’s been released over the past few years. Flurry says a medium phone is anything with a screen between 3.5 and 4.9 inches — a display size we haven’t seen around these parts in quite some time.
By comparison, medium-sized phones on iOS won by a landslide, which can largely be attributed to iPhone 6S sales. Phablet-sized devices like the 6 Plus? Only 12%. So, what is this data really telling us? Only that Android users aren’t given much choice when it comes to larger-sized smartphones. It’s take it, or get something smaller, cheaper, and lower-end.
Also worth noting is how the Galaxy S6 — despite the overall size being slightly smaller than the iPhone 6S — is still classified as a “phablet” thanks to its 5.1-inch display. So, yeah. This data is just a tad bit skewed.
[Flurry]