Analyst: bowing to phablet trend, Apple’s iPhone 5S to come in three screen sizes

iPhone 6 mockup (Martin Hajek 001)

Apple’s rumored S-upgrade to its iPhone, the iPhone 5S, is assumed to arrive some time during summer, possibly shortly after Apple presumably announces it at its annual developers conference in June or July (the company hasn’t yet set the date for WWDC 2013). One analyst in a note issued to clients Tuesday wrote that supply chatter points to multiple screen sizes for the iPhone 5S in order to appeal to consumers who dig jumbo-sized handsets and improve its standing in the market…

Business Insider got hold of the note by Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White:

After our meeting with a tech-supply chain company, we walked away with the view that Apple will release the iPhone 5S in at least two screen sizes this summer and possibly three.

Essentially, we believe Apple is coming around to the fact that one size per iPhone release does not work for everyone and offering consumers an option has the potential to expand the Company’s market share.

White is on the seventh day of a tour of technology suppliers in China and Taiwan.

Last Friday, he wrote Asian suppliers told him that a next-generation iPhone should start at 4.5 inches, while five to 5.5 inches “would be optimal.”

I know what you’re thinking, who needs an Apple phablet, right?

It’s easy to dismiss phablets: even research firm Flurry dismissed phablets as “a fad.” It found that mobiles devices with screens between five and 6.9 inches diagonally account for only two percent of gizmos it observed during February 2013.

On the other hand, an IDC data proves sales of handsets five inches or bigger soared to 29.7 million units last year from 1.2 million a year earlier. Therefore, people are increasingly digging these large form-factor smartphones.

IDC’s Francisco Jeronimo told Bloomberg:

This is a trend that can’t be missed.

People are using smartphones in different ways now, consuming media by streaming over faster mobile networks.

A five-inch screen for a smartphone just feels right in the hand.

I think he’s onto something here and nearly half of you seem to agree with the analysts’ assessment.

I mean, recall if you will, when virtually everyone and their mother chastised pre-iPhone 5 reports signaling Apple for the first time might make the handset’s tiny 3.5-inch screen bigger.

iPhone 6 mockup (Martin Hajek 000)

Apple with the release of the iPhone 5 has obviously settled on four inches being the new gold standard for iPhones, though it’s not like the company is married to any particular screen size.

As for the next iPhone, evidence mounts that it’ll sport a fingerprint sensor and incorporate NFC tech, allegedly in order to facilitate a secure mobile payments solution dubbed iWallet.

Sources told the Wall Street Journal that Apple will be ramping up iPhone 5S production this quarter, meaning hardware has been finalized, and Morgan Stanley thinks the phone will have “a killer feature” of sorts.

Heck, summer can’t come soon enough.

So honestly, what screen size would you prefer for the iPhone 5S?