Sony has decided to hold back the release of its European Xperia V smartphone. This might sound like bad news if you are in Europe waiting to get your hands on the device, but it’s actually a good thing. The reason Sony is holding back the release of the phone is so they can release it with Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean installed, instead of 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich that it was originally going to come with.
Sony has also decided to drop the price of the phone slightly. The original December release of the device was going to be €549, but with the move to January, Sony has decided to drop the price to €529. While not exactly the largest price drop we’ve ever seen, any savings is good savings, so we certainly aren’t complaining.
The news comes from he official Sony Xperia France Twitter account, so we know the price drop and release date change is definitely happening there. As far as other territories in Europe, we can’t be 100-percent sure, but it seems likely that Sony would not move the release date for just one country. Hopefully Sony puts word out if other parts of Europe should expect to see the device in December or January.
Japan might be the one exception that receives the device on time. It is scheduled for release next week, and it seems unlikely that it would be pulled and rescheduled so close to its launch. Either way, it seems worth the wait for European buyers. Getting the device cheaper and with Jelly Bean installed is most definitely a good thing.
[via Xperia Blog]
