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Why smart phones won’t get smaller in 2014

Is bigger better?

As we begin 2014, the battle over what size of mobile device users prefer will continue, with devices only getting bigger.

As Kevin Tofel outlines in a column this week, it wasn’t that long ago that a smart phone with a 4-in. screen was considered big. Recent new handsets include the LG G2 with a 5.2-in. screen and Samsung’s Galaxy S4 with a 5-in screen.

Then there’s so-called phablets like the 6.4 inch Sony Experia Z Ultra.

So far, buyers are lapping all of them up and showing no particular preference for size — particularly as the price of handsets drop. Industry analysts say increasingly Android handset makers are fighting for market share in the mid-price range, which means its easier for buyers to buy a larger screen these days.

For example, Rogers has the 4.5 in. HTC Desire for $300, while Wind Mobile has the 4.7-in. Huawei Ascend P6 for $349.

For the time being there are so many markets around the world that devices of almost any size are surviving. So far there hasn’t been a handset that failed because the size was too much.

The question is what are buyers willing to tote? Pockets/purses are only so big. And what I want to carry during the day — with my knapsack on a shoulder — isn’t what I want to carry at night when I’m out with friends.

Yet as Tofel notes, uses today want to watch movies and play games on their handsets.

One thing for sure is that handsets won’t gets smaller this year.

Read the whole column here

Howard Solomon
Howard Solomon
Currently a freelance writer, I'm the former editor of ITWorldCanada.com and Computing Canada. An IT journalist since 1997, I've written for several of ITWC's sister publications including ITBusiness.ca and Computer Dealer News. Before that I was a staff reporter at the Calgary Herald and the Brampton (Ont.) Daily Times. I can be reached at hsolomon [@] soloreporter.com

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