5.5-Inch iPhone 6 Will Accelerate Phablet Explosion; U2 Will Spice Up Sept 19 Release Date – Reports

Phablets are here to stay as signified by the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 revelation this week and when the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 release date becomes a reality this 2014, expansion of the smartphone market segment will only speed up.

Global research firm IDC is upbeat that Apple will spur further uptick of phablet sales worldwide, notwithstanding that the iPhone is joining the supersized smartphone rumble a bit late. Samsung will soon issue the fourth iteration of its flagship phablet while Apple will have its first try this year.

Despite being a newbie, the jumbo iPhone 6 will easily assume a rock star status, according to the same report.

"With Apple expected to join the space in the coming weeks, we anticipate even more attention on phablets as larger screen smartphones become the new norm," 9to5Mac quoted the IDC report as saying.

Thanks to the giant iPhone, phablet will rule the 2014 gadget race and even next year, surpassing the sales projected for personal computers and tablets.

The iPhone 6 and other high-end phablets from major vendors will spike up the segment's 2014 sales and by the end of the year, some 175 million units will be cleared that will exceed the 170 million PCs that buyers will take home by end of December.

And by 2015, the international phablet sales will nearly double, said the IDC report, chalking up some 318 million units of total sales and easily overtaking the same year performance that tablet computers are predicted to turn in.

The iPhone 6 is a juggernaut due mainly to the combo of its upsized display and the powerful Apple brand, according to analysts, but the company seems bent to ensure that its latest products - both the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch models - will haul in tons of cash.

One likely way to do that, per a MacRumors story, is bring rock icon U2 to the picture. The iconic rock band will reportedly play a prominent role in the next iPhone rollout, added the Apple-centric blog site.

One possibility is packing U2's upcoming record with the device plus a music video that the Irish rockers had recently shot.

Or, the same report added, U2 will take the stage and rock the September 9 iPhone 6 grand intro that the Cupertino-based Apple will host, which analysts said will pave the way for the handset's actual release date one week after or September 19.