A new report which comes from the Wall Street Journal has come out adding more credibility to rumors which had been doing the rounds regarding Apple’s development of a new phablet device. It was already pretty certain, although there was no definite proof of it, that Apple has been testing devices which fit the description of a pahblet; however there is no indication that Apple will announce any of these in its September 10th event at California. The report provides information regarding the sizes of the phablets Apple might be testing.
WSJ reports that Apple has tested a number of sizes for the ‘iPhablet’, ranging from 4.8 inches to 6 inches. Although a 4.8 inch display doesn’t make it into the phablet category, going by current market standards, it could be the prospective size of later iPhone models that Apple is looking into, states the report. As the current phablet market is pretty much dominated by Samsung with the Note II (5.5”) and the Note III (5.7”), it is the Korean manufacturer that Apple will need to take on if it is to make its presence felt in the category. The report doesn’t have any indication of the date when Apple could be expected to announce the phablet; however, considering that it is still in the testing phase, it might be some time before they enter the market.
In other news, sales of the iPhone’s older versions are always known to decline as the launch of the new version approaches, and it is no different this time around. DigiTimes Research has stated that the second quarter sales of the iPhones were short by over 6.2 million units as compared to the sales in the first quarter. This has also led to a considerable decline in revenue.
Over the last quarter, Apple has collaborated with different carriers for offering a number of promotions and sales in order to sell as many older iPhones as possible, as the company had also the strategy did not work as well as the company had hoped, and according to the report by DigiTimes, revenues from iPhone sales went down to $18.2 billion. Even as that is not a small number, it will likely be dwarfed by sales in the fourth quarter after Apple announces the new iPhone 5S and 5C this month. The cheaper iPhone 5C is expected to give a substantial boost to the company’s coffers in the short term.
