It’s no secret that Sony Xperia smartphones aren’t the best-selling phones, nor are they the top choice for Android flagships. Sony built a loyal niche of fans who buy its Xperia phones, but the market beyond them doesn’t pick up on the phones with as much enthusiasm. When the company’s latest flagship, the Xperia 1 VII, began dying and disappearing across markets, many presumed that the end was near for Sony’s Xperia line of phones. Sony is laying rest to those fears, indicating it is around, for now at least.
At the company’s financial results briefing, Sony Group’s CFO Lin Tao answered a question on the Xperia 1 VII’s recall and its impact on sales and the smartphone business itself (interpreted transcription via Seeking Alpha):
About the defect of Xperia smartphone. So we are very sorry that we caused inconvenience to the users. I would like to apologize. About identifying the defect and the countermeasures have already been completed. The malfunction itself was coming from the production process. The impacted loss, so we have exchanged the parts which have been impacted.
And about the quality. So this is a big management agenda for Sony. So we will work so that this will not happen going forward. The smartphone business itself is an extremely important business for us. The telecom technology is a technology that we have been nurturing for a long time. And also, this is used to other areas other than smartphone. So we will continue to grow this business.
As Lin Tao mentions at the end of her answer, the smartphone business is an “extremely important business” for us. While the company has invested in phones for a long time, the technologies within the Xperia phone are used in other parts of the business. The answer ends with an affirmation to the Xperia smartphone line, as Sony intends to “continue to grow this business.”
This is as good and straightforward an answer as possible on the future of Xperia smartphones. Sony has already been replacing defective Xperia 1 VII phones, though I would like it if the company began selling the phone in more global markets sooner rather than later. The Xperia 1 line is one of the very few remaining flagship lines that still pack in a headphone jack and a microSD card slot, which some enthusiasts love, but more would appreciate if the phones were available at reasonable prices across global markets. Sony doesn’t make perfect phones, but the beauty of Android is in its diversity and choice; for that, I am grateful that Sony Xperia phones are still around.