With nowhere-near-extraordinary smartphone sales last year, Sony's to-be-launched flagship product Sony Xperia Z4 could very well be but a sad footnote to the Japanese tech giant's grand adventure into the smartphone business, a view disclosed by Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai himself pointing to a probable "exit strategy" for the product division. In light of a playing field dominated by Apple and Samsung, the Japanese tech behemoth may be looking at a different direction: focusing on its strengths, its core products, the PlayStation series for instance.
Not helping is Sony's botched MWS 2015 announcement on the much-touted Sony Xperia upgrade - even after the Sony hack exposing early renditions of the product.
Casting a Cloud of Uncertainty
Make no mistake about it, though. Sony Xperia Z4 may be closer than you think as prototype has reportedly appeared in certification documents at both the US FCC (Federal Communication Commission) and its Japanese counterpart, according to BlogofMobile.
But a dark cloud may be looming above its smartphone business as Kazuo Hirai, Sony CEO, disclosed at a corporate strategy meeting that plans are being cooked up to "bump operating profits by a factor of 25" in the next three years, respectively. However, the executive was quick to qualify his statement saying that the move is meant to boost Sony's growth areas, alluding to PlayStation and camera sensors.
Ask about the tech giant's TV and mobile business, Hirai straightforwardly disclosed they would not rule out "considering an exit strategy".
Timing is Everything
To note, even with massive improvements to its smartphone offerings, the company has not done well - even in Japan. Competing against a world dominated by Samsung and Apple, the tech behemoth has only amassed poor performance after poor performance sales-wise. And fiscal year 2015 is no exemptin. It could very well be the sixth fiscal year financial loss for Sony - out of the last seven.
In this year's MWC (Mobile World Congress) in Barcelona, an event which hosted nearly a 100-thousand strong mobile professionals from 200 countries from March 2 to 5, Sony presented VAIO's probable replacement, the Ultrathin Xperia Z4 Tablet but nary a shadow of the Sony Xperia Z4.
Early renders of the Z4 has emerged though, stolen from the email account of the Sony CEO himself.
The Japanese tech giant could be biding its time as rumors abound the Sony Xperia upgrade is set to have a product placement arrangement in the next James Bond flick, with the super-spy actor Daniel Craig being asked for design input, respectively.
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