Phablets making their presence felt: The Mobile Indian survey

Of the 25 most-viewed handsets in India, 12 come with 5 inch or more display screen sizes.

India is currently witnessing a smartphone boom with large screen sizes. This was revealed by a survey of The Mobile Indian (TMI), which analysed the online preferences of over one million people who visited the website (www.themobileindian.com) in August.

As per the Handset Hotlist survey, out of 25 most searched mobile phones on The Mobile Indian, 12 have 5 inch or bigger display, and out of the remaining handsets, 10 have 4 inch or bigger but less than 5 inch display.

If we analyse the consumer's search behaviour towards screen sizes of phones since January 2012, data from The Mobile Indian show that the average screen size among the 25 most searched phones was 2.9 inches and in July last year it was 3.5 inches. In January and July this year, it was 4.1 and 4.5 inches, respectively. In the latest monthly survey, the average size has risen to 4.6 inches among the Top 25 handsets.

Commenting on the trend, a spokesperson for The Mobile Indian says, "Rise of phablets or smartphones with 5 inch and above screen size is primarily driven by Indian handset marketers who have made available phones with large screen for as low as Rs 6,400."

The spokesperson further adds, "Apart from affordable pricing, operators, handset marketers and app players are currently focusing on creating awareness among users about using mobile internet. Consumers on their part want to experience it on larger mobile screens which are leading to their affinity towards phablets."

As per the Handset Hotlist survey, Micromax Canvas 4 is the most searched smartphone - its second consecutive stint at the coveted position. Also, after a gap of five months, two handsets from HTC - HTC Butterfly S and HTC One Dual Sim, made it to the list.

Out of the 25 most searched handsets, six were from Samsung, five from Micromax, three each from Nokia and Sony, two each from Xolo and HTC and one each from LG, Karbonn, Apple and Intex.

As far as Relative Score is concerned this month, there was close competition for slot Nos 2, 3 and 4 for grabbing consumer interest. After that, it was quite neck to neck from position No. 9 onwards.