If there is one thing in the tech world that is cyclical, it is big cell phones.

Since the introduction of the HTC Advantage and Apple iPhone in 2007, with five and 3.5-inch diagonal screens, respectively, the screen size has been growing almost every year. Currently, the latest generation of iPhone offers 4.7 or 5.5-inch displays, while the Google Nexus 6 offers a 5.96-inch screen. These larger phones, which supposedly combine portability and functionality of a smartphone with the large-screen and quality of a tablet, have been dubbed “phablets.”

But why are phablets becoming so popular? Itproportal.com notes that even when the market growth rate for tablets and smartphones have slowed down – approximately 26 million phablets shipped in 2012 – nearly 60 million shipped in 2013,and 146 million are expected to ship out by the end of next year. There seem to be several reasons beyond consumer demand, including manufacturing necessity like screen efficiency and battery life, and plain and simple economics.

With the introduction of smartphones, consumers have grown accustomed to the technology for quite some time now. Multimedia quality has therefore become an increasingly important factor in purchasing decisions.

For instance, droid-life.com polled over 9,000 people and found 65 percent consider multimedia an important part of a buying decision, while 25 percent make buying decisions based solely on a phone’s camera capabilities.

Men are also a possible driving force behind the demand for larger phones, as Androids have almost always been larger than their iPhone counterpart. Pew Internet & American Life Project reports that 31 percent of men use Androids versus 24 percent who use iPhones.
Women use Androids and iPhones equally at 26 percent. Overall, the consumer demands for an improved multimedia experience with better display functions, higher-powered cameras and extended battery life in turn necessitated that phones become larger.

There are also theories in manufacturing involving heat dissipation that impact a phone’s size. Smartphones need to be larger in order to dissipate heat that their internal parts generate, so more stuff going on inside necessitates a larger phone. For instance, high-density screens generate more heat and draw more power because of the need for backlighting, but with a larger surface area, heat can be dispersed more evenly. This allows for extended battery life and will not burn a user’s hand.

The market growth for tablets and smartphones has slowed, but the market for phablets is virtually untouched. Companies are looking into new products to develop and sell, and hybrid devices that are the best of both worlds are perfect in a price-conscious market. Consumers do not want to purchase two separate devices that do virtually the same thing, especially in developing countries where people have even less disposable income.
Even though a larger phone makes phone calls all the more awkward, it doesn’t really matter because phone calls are such a small part of what people use their mobile phones for now.

The question that arises from the phablet trend is whether or not it is just a trend. Trends tend to come and go, lasting only a short while, but the market is only expanding for phablets. And yet, if you read reviews on phablets, people are cautious. The phones have been mocked for their size and how it requires two hands and how it will look trying to use or carry such a large device. The consumer call for varied screen size is loud, and companies like Apple have responded by offering two different versions of the iPhone 6 along with the iPad mini. Only time will tell if phablets are a lasting product.

Emma Sandler can be reached at [email protected].