Barclays cites potential for 'phablets'

Growth of such devices will be strong over the next three years, said Lu Hsing-chih, chief analyst with Barclays Capital.

Among manufacturers that will benefit from strong sales of phablets are Samsung, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., MediaTek and Largan, Lu said.

According to Lu, distinctions between smartphones and tablet PCs are increasingly blurred amid the popularity of 5- to 7-inch devices including Samsung's Note II, HTC's Butterfly and Apple's iPad mini.

These phablets will see compound annual growth rate of between 65 and 70 percent from 2013 to 2015, due to the use of newer central processing units, falling prices and stronger demand for mobile Internet resulting from the 4G technology, he said.

Meanwhile, 5-inch smartphones will account for 15 percent of the smartphone market in 2013, up from 5 percent last year, he added.

Another factor expected to drive phablet growth is China, where a replacement cycle will take place. According to Lu, 5-inch smartphones with quad-core processors and high resolution currently sell for 2,000 yuan, which may fall to 1,000 yuan by 2015. High sales of these models are expected to benefit manufacturers of CPUs made with 32-, 28- and 20-nanometer technology as well as makers of driver ICs, camera lenses and touch screens, he said.

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