Asians increasingly buy tablets with calling function

Manufacturers in Asia are increasingly supplying tablets with a calling function, analyst firm IDC notes. The researchers speculate that in the continent where large smartphones first became popular, people are looking for a single device that replaces smartphone and tablet.

Deliveries of tablets with a calling function increased by 60 percent last year compared to the same period last year. It concerns the continents of Asia and Australia, but without Japan, a number of 3.15 million tablets in three months. There has been an increase, especially in the past six months, says IDC. The trend is not visible in Europe or other parts of the world, but it has happened before that a trend in the telecom market has spread from Asia to the rest of the world.

Asians would be looking for a device that combines the screen size of the tablet with the telephone reachability of smartphones. Tablets with calling functionality are not new; For example, Samsung made its first tablet with calling function in 2010 with the first Galaxy Tab. The manufacturer also recently released its first tablet with a 16:9 screen, an aspect ratio that is more common with smartphones.

IDC has no insight into how many users of such devices actually call and how they do it; Because holding such a large device against the ear for a long time is inconvenient, many people could choose to only make calls via, for example, a bluetooth headset.

The line between smartphones and tablets has been blurring for some time: for example, tablets in the current definition start with a screen size of 7″, but smartphones are creeping closer and closer, with, for example, the Sony Xperia Z Ultra with its 6.44″ screen. display. Asus also markets its Fonepad devices with a 7-inch screen as smartphones.