Android Buyers Have an Appetite for Huge Screens

When Apple releases the new iPhone next month it is most likely going to look exactly like the iPhone 5. That means Apple will, for all we know, continue to ignore one of the biggest trends in today’s smartphone market: giant screens.

In anticipation of last year’s iPhone 5 launch, there was plenty of speculation about how large a screen Apple would grant its new iPhone model after the company’s leadership had long been adamant that 3.5 inches was the perfect size for a smartphone screen. In the end the iPhone 5 came out with a 4-inch screen, which is still pretty small compared to the most popular Android phones.

According to data provided by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, only 16% of Android smartphones sold in the United States between April and June this year were equipped with screens smaller than 4 inches in diagonal. More importantly, 55 percent of Android phones sold sported significantly larger screens of 4.5 inches or more. Samsung’s flagship model, the Galaxy S4, comes with a giant 5-inch screen compared to which the iPhone 5 looks miniature.

Considering these findings, the argument that people aren’t interested in larger screens for there phones no longer holds. There is obviously a growing audience for large-screen-smartphones and Apple is taking a considerable risk ignoring this audience.