Can Apple Inc. (AAPL) Afford to Wait On a Larger iPhone?

The South Korean conglomerate was at risk of losing its title as the Phablet King when Huawei unveiled its 6.1-inch Ascend Mate, topping the 5.5-inch Galaxy Note 2. Fortunately, Samsung’s title is now safe, even as the Galaxy Note 8.0 brushes up on the edge of what the human body can do, to say nothing of how absurd it looks holding up an 8-inch tablet to your face to make phone calls.

Using the Galaxy Note 8.0 as a phone. Source: Android Central.

While I would never expect Apple to add phone capabilities to the iPad Mini (which is still slightly smaller than the Note 8.0), there is a growing addressable market for those wanting larger devices. If you look at sales data, though, there doesn’t seem to be any imminent threat, contrary to investor perception at this stage.

In the fourth quarter, the iPhone 4S outsold the Galaxy S III by 2 million units worldwide. The Galaxy S III is more of a mainstream device with its 4.8-inch display, and the device launched in Q2 2012. If you look at the figures for Q2 2012 through Q4 2012, the 3.5-inch smartphone still outsold the larger rival flagship.

Source: Strategy Analytics.

The article Can Apple Afford to Wait On a Larger iPhone? originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by  Evan Niu.

Fool contributor Evan Niu, CFA, owns shares of Apple. The Motley Fool recommends Apple and Intel. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple, China Mobile, and Intel.

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