Indeed, Sony has a wide scope of business across various industries, whether it is film production, the highly successful PlayStation gaming division or the popular segment of speakers and TVs. Sony is also in the smartphone business, although according to many sources and indications, it is not doing very well in the industry. This is certainly a shame, because just a few years ago this brand belonged to the very top and brought users many interesting models with practical innovations and other gadgets. It is often speculated whether Sony will leave the smartphone segment completely, as smartphone sales are relatively low. According to Bloomberg’s Japanese editor Takashi Mochizuki, Sony’s smartphones could be dealt a “blow of mercy” by Google’s mobile division, i.e. a series of Pixel phones. A few days ago, after a long wait, Pixels were officially sold on the Czech market as well.
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As Takashi points out, Sony isn’t doing very well with its phones in global markets. The exception was the home market of Japan, where despite the popularity of iPhones, Sony still managed to sell more smartphones. Some interesting models were also launched for this market, such as the compact Sony Xperia Ace III.
Sales are down and look set to continue
In any case, according to Takashi, Sony will register a 40% drop in smartphone sales in Japan for 2023, but it is likely that the Pixel phones are celebrating great success there. This year could see a similar decline, according to an IDC analyst speaking to Bloomberg. Sony shipped about a million smartphones a year in Japan, which is not a little, but given the population of around 125 million, where 30 million smartphones are sold annually, this figure is certainly not dazzling. It was the entry of the Pixels into the Japanese market and Google’s initiative to invest in making the Pixels more popular that seems to have hurt Sony significantly. Takashi goes on to say that as a long-time Sony fan, for example, he converted to Pixels because of the Pixel Fold, which has an interesting design, since Sony does not offer any flexible phone.
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In just a few days, the new Xperia will be announced, which could theoretically change the fate of Sony. According to some analysts, Sony could also help if it gave up trying to compete with other brands at the level of flagship phones for a lot of money and instead focused on introducing an interestingly equipped and affordable (lower) mid-range smartphone. According to analysts, the primary customers of Sony’s mobile division are people with an average age of around 40, who could appreciate a well-equipped phone for reasonable money.
