Despite ongoing strife with Apple, Samsung are having a good year. Just one month after they announced that their Galaxy S2 phone hit 20 million sales in ten months, they are confirming that their "fablet" phone is also doing extremely well.
The Galaxy Note has sold five million units in just five months. In our recent review of the Note, we said that the phone was a beautifully designed handset with software that doesn't quite back up its potential. Undeniably, though, the Galaxy Note has struck a chord in the market. Mixing the great 5.3 inch screen and S-Pen with its smartphone capability and portability, the Note can be seen everywhere from on some of Optus's most appealing cap plans to new episodes of American hit show The Vampire Diaries.
The Note is clearly not being wielded just by the undead, though, unless they're a bigger consumer group than any company has expected. Instead, we're seeing a continued trend of phones getting bigger to suit the needs of customers.
While we imagine technology to be cooler and more effective the smaller it is – see hundreds of sci-fi movies where a phone is just a blinking light in someone's forearm – phone trends in the last five years have seen us heading in the opposite direction. Since the iPhone was released, companies and customers alike have embraced the big screen.
The emergence of a tablet market has only intensified this trend. They may be harder to fit in your pocket, but iPads and other tablets are becoming more and more often a common sight on public transport as people grow used to having space to read, watch, create, and play on their portable screens.
The Galaxy Note, dubbed by some the "fablet", is an attempt to bring the world of the smartphone and tablet together. And these new figures from Samsung prove that it definitely is working. Additional research shows that consumers are making fewer calls on their phones and instead spending more time on the web, and the Galaxy Note is great for luxury browsing.
However, we shouldn't presume that the Galaxy Note is only for those rushing to embrace new-fangled technologies.
If you're a pensioner, you might find the Samsung Galaxy Note more your style than either an old handset or a new iPhone. The large screen makes it easy to navigate, but the S-Pen makes it a tactile experience that might appeal to you – and even allows "handwritten" text messages. Its weight and bulk might be an attraction rather than a distraction if you like the sense of weight in your hand and solidity to a phone. It'll also be much harder to lose!
To become one of the five million, find the best plan to suit you for the Galaxy Note.
If you're a very heavy user, you can't go past Optus's $79 Cap Plan. The $79 per month plan gives you $900 of included value along with 3GB of data, along with free five minute calls to other Australian numbers on the same plan. Optus will give you the Galaxy Note on this plan for no additional charge. Call Optus today on 1300 137 897.
For a lighter user, you might consider Vodafone's great plans. The Samsung Galaxy Note is available on the Vodafone $49 Cap, which includes $550 of included value and 1GB of data. It also throws in three standard calls within Australia for free, and unlimited Vodafone to Vodafone calls. The Galaxy Note is available on this plan for an additional $10 per month. You can call us today to find out more about Vodafone on 1300 850 518.