Despite the numerous rumors that told us the next Nexus phone would be a big huge phablet, we were still taken aback when officially pulled the curtain off of the Nexus 6. It’s a damn big phone. Its 6-inch display is even bigger than the recently launched Samsung Galaxy Note 4. 

at is thinking? Is this ’s way of jumping on the trend for ever-larger phones? Big phones are more popular than ever, but very few have 6-inch display. That’s almost tablet territory! at’s going on here?

A niche you can’t ignore

If you figured that thought to make a huge Nexus 6 to join in with the rest of the industry trends, you’re not too far off. The mobile market is gearing itself to appeal to those with bigger hs, so to speak. “ Motorola sized itself away from the general market toward a very specific segment of the market,” said Ramon amas, Research Manager at IDC. But it’s not just geared toward those with larger palms—consumers are really just clamoring for a better alternative to carrying around so many devices on their person. “If you’re that person who wants to have the all in one tablet smartphone, this is for you too,” added amas.

It’s also important that has a device in this category so that its developers will make applications that can scale to those bigger screen sizes. “They consider this category important, so they just want to have this device be their version of what a phablet could be,” said iel e, an analyst for Canalys. ’s goal isn’t to sell a ton of units—the Nexus program never really was about selling lots of devices—it’s about pushing the Android platform to work well with other types of niche technology, too. 

It’s also an opportunity for to br itself refute the idea that the phablet niche is something that only its partners can offer. “If you don’t supply those things, somebody else will,” added amas.

A ploy for more business users

A bigger device may also help appeal to the more business-centric crowd, as Samsung’s successfully done with its Galaxy Note series.

’s been shooting for the enterprise crowd for some time, with Android llipop equipped with better security features multi-user support, that bigger screen size will at least make it easier to multitask. “They are pushing hard from an app perspective if you’re looking at what they’re doing with Drive the cloud,” said Carolina Milanesi, of Research Head of tar rldpanel. “But from an Android perspective we haven’t yet noticed very much about the enterprise.” Thus, this is ’s subtle way of telling developers: go ahead make those killer business apps.

$649 is the right price

The unlocked price for the Nexus 6 is pretty steep, a far cry from the mid-range price points of the previous few Nexus devices. But it’s par for the course in an industry dominated by high-end, high-priced devices. “If you’re taking a look at the ione 6 some of the Samsung devices, we’re in the same kind of stratosphere,” said amas. It’s expected that the Nexus 6 would cost this much, because of its remarkable specifications, at least it’s available at all major carriers so developers consumers alike won’t be doling out that much for it if they’re due for an upgrade. “If you dial it down look at the opportunity here for subsidy, it could end up being $200 on a two-year contract.”

The high price point will also ensure that doesn’t unfairly compete with its manufacturing partners. “They do have an exceptional burden of having been [cheaper],” said e. “They don’t want to compete too directly. They want to find a segment, to provide the experience for those segments without offending the OEMs.” 

Nexus is still for purists

Despite the fact that is making the Nexus 6 more broadly available from carriers this time around, it’s still a niche phone that’s meant to satiate those who want the purest Android. “I don’t think Nexus is for everybody,” said Ilamas. “I don’t think it’s set up to be that way either.” It is also vitally important that continues to court developers with a strong hardware ecosystem—phablets included.