[THE INVESTOR] A phablet was once mocked for its oversized screen. However, it is now on a hot streak as most top global smartphone makers, including Apple, are competitively rolling out large-screen smartphones to attract new customers.

Samsung Electronics, which first introduced the phablet -- portmanteau of a phone and a tablet -- in 2011, is preparing to outrun its rivals with the largest-ever Galaxy Note model later next year, according to news reports on Oct. 15.

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Samsung mulls merging Galaxy S Plus and Note lineups
Samsung starts Galaxy Note 10 project codenamed da Vinci

The Korean tech giant informed display maker Samsung Display earlier this month that it has decided to adopt a 6.66-inch screen for Galaxy Note 10, local news outlet The Bell reported.

The online news outlet also said that the development project for a larger-screen smartphone, codenamed da Vinci, started early last month.

The Korean tech firm usually runs a development project for a flagship smartphone for a year since the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco in 2016. It used to take six months to develop a marquee phone before the Note 7 crisis.

If launched presumably in August next year, the 6.66-inch Note 10 will be the largest in the Galaxy lineup. The preceding Note 9 featured a 6.4-inch screen while Galaxy S9 Plus is fitted with a 6.2-inch display.

The anticipated adoption of the 6.66-inch screen is in line with the global smartphone trend for larger screens, aimed at appealing to users who spend more time watching videos and playing games on their smartphones than before.

Market research firm IHS Markit has forecast that the average smartphone screen size would surpass 6 inches in 2019.

Apple’s iPhone XS, the largest variant of the its flagship smartphones, sports a 6.5-inch screen.

Samsung’s Galaxy S10 Plus, expected to be unveiled in February next year, is said to feature a 6.44 inch display.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)