Forget Phablets, Just Make Phone Calls on Your Tablet

As we regress to the age of mammoth cell phones, it's not uncommon to see someone riding the subway or strolling along the sidewalk with a phablet-sized device held to their ear. But in Asia, many consumers are going even bigger.

According to data from IDC, larger devices—your run-of-the-mill iPad mini or Nexus 7 tablet (pictured)—that ship with cellular voice capabilities are gaining traction in Asia (with the exception of Japan).

In the second quarter, the Asia/Pacific area counted 13.8 million shipped tablets, about 3.5 million of which have the option to add voice calling over cell networks. Based on IDC's calculations, that equals more than 60 percent year-over-year growth for this category of tablets, 100 percent of which are Android devices.

"Tablets that allow voice calls over cell networks have been around for a while now, as the first generation of Samsung Tabs did have that option, albeit only activated through a Bluetooth headset," Avinash Sundaram, senior market analyst at IDC Asia/Pacific, said in a statement.

Still, most folks shy away from using two hands to grasp their phone, and typically stick to smaller handsets.

That practice may be changing, though. IDC said the tablet-as-cell-phone segment has seen a surge in shipments and vendors since the beginning of the year, particularly in India and Indonesia.

"This shift highlights the sustained interest among consumers, at least in emerging markets, to have a single mobile device for all their needs—be it watching movies or soap operas, taking pictures, texting or making calls, even if the device has a huge 7-inch screen on it," Sundaram said. "It also helps that these devices are quite affordable, playing in the entry-to-mainstream price bands in most markets."

And you can expect the trend to come to a city near you: IDC believes this movement will continue to gain followers. Though, for now, Sundaram expects "the Asian love for bigger screens" to continue.