Worldwide phablet shipments (smartphones with screen sizes from 5.5 to smaller than 7 inches) will reach 175 million units worldwide in 2014, passing the 170 million portable PCs expected to ship during the same period, according to a new forecast from IDC. Next year, total phablet volumes will top 318 million units, surpassing the 233 million tablets forecast to ship in 2015. While IDC notes that phablets are a relatively new category of device, first picking up volume in 2012, the pressure that the category has placed on the tablet market has already been clearly observed as the growth of smaller, 7-inch tablets has begun to slow. Report