The bigger 10"-or-so tablets certainly have a niche, although convertible laptops may have made that niche even smaller. I don't have much hope for 7" tablets,

The bigger 10"-or-so tablets certainly have a niche, although convertible laptops may have made that niche even smaller. I don't have much hope for 7" tablets, though. They're bigger than the 4" (or sub-4") smartphones and small enough to carry around. Now that 5" and 6" smartphones have seen some mainstream acceptance, I'm not sure that additional inch justifies lugging an additional device around all day. My smartphone is nearing the end of its lifetime (it's already nearly three years old, which feels ancient in the tech scene) and I can't see myself spending some 500 bucks on another small-screen smartphone and then spend nearly the same amount to eventually replace my 7" tablet -- nor can I imagine carrying both a 6" smartphone and a 7" tablet around.