Sony Mobile is definitely not for sale. The Xperia Z4 Tablet was introduced at this week’s MWC without a shadow of the Xperia Z4 smartphone. We didn’t expect the Z4 phone either because Sony already said it won’t release a new flagship phone at the tech event like the previous years. We only saw a midrange phone in the form of the Xperia M4 Aqua.
So when will we see the Sony Xperia Z4? Most big brands introduce new versions of a product on a yearly cycle but Sony hasn’t really followed that. The Xperia Z2 was launched February 2014 but the Xperia Z3 was soon released only after seven months. The yearly cycle schedule was just a speculation but Sony Mobile executives quickly dismissed the idea.
Sony Mobile’s focus now is to improve on customer experience. Instead of designing new models, Sony would continue to enhance the experience with the products. There’s no need to introduce new hardware regularly if you could work on the software and update mobile experience.
Sony Mobile Western Europe’s VP Pierre Perron said, “We will continue to launch beautiful hardware but it’s not the only thing anymore”. This could mean release of new products will be not as regular as before. A yearly cycle makes more sense than every six months but Sony seems to be focusing on different priorities now.
Sony Mobile’s Vice President, Global Communications & PR Tim Harrison said:
“We haven’t always announced a smartphone at MWC, sometimes we phase it and we’ll have a smartphone or a tablet. This year we really wanted the emphasis on our story at MWC to be around expanding the mid-range offer and broadening the mid-range and obviously bringing in a super premium tablet as well. It’s more a case of phasing the products in than anything else.”
So instead of making new products, Sony could just “refresh” the current models and expand consumer experience.
VIA: Xperia Blog
