[Discuss] Sony Mobile to stay in business (See the remaining countries)

[Ink]

Source 1: Sony sees smartphone business as indispensable, says CEO
Sony Corp sees the smartphone business as indispensable to its brand portfolio, its CEO said.

Sony is beefing up gaming functions of its smartphones to tap customers of its successful PlayStation gaming business.

Yoshida also said he is confident in improving profitability at the pictures business.

Source 2: Sony confirms which countries it has dropped for mobile | Xperia Blog
The most interesting slide was confirmation of which regions around the world it is now focused on, and by consequence which regions were ‘defocused’.

Focus regions:
Sony confirms that the focus regions are Japan, Europe, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

De-focused regions:
India, Australia, Canada, South America, Mexico, Africa, the Middle East and others. We have been hearing from many in these regions that Sony has pulled out quietly, but this is the first official confirmation.

 

[Threadripper]

After my experiences with Sony phones which I've used for years, I certainly wouldn't mind them disappearing. Also I heard that on one of their newer phones they claimed it had facial recognition which turned out to be trusted faces.

 

[Ink]

Which Sony model / year did you buy?

Also I heard that on one of their newer phones they claimed it had facial recognition which turned out to be trusted faces.

Do you have a link for this?

 

[Threadripper]

Which Sony model / year did you buy?

Do you have a link for this?

Unfortunately I don't have a link because I was watching a review about that phone and it was mentioned, pretty recent and around the 500 pricepoint iirc.

I had the M4 Aqua and aside from being slow it was 8GB - could barely update apps and the preinstalled junk didn't help with that, then before my iPhone XR I had the Xperia XA1 and literally everyone who's ever used one will tell you the sides of the screen don't work. The sides were curved, but just didn't work so using letters like p and q or numbers like 0 and 9 took a lot of patience and pressing... they still sell it.

 

[Ink]

That is correct, I had the same one before it was "destroyed". The Xperia M4 Aqua (8GB storage) was a budget Android phone, around the £200 price mark. Externally it copied the then current style of the flagship, but instead of metals, it was entirely made of plastic. It also had a crappy MediaTek chip instead of a Snapdragon chip.

I've never used the Xperia XA1, but knowing it was a mid-range Android phone, I didn't expect it to be all the great - and was not a fan of curved displays.

If you can get hands-on with the 2018 Xperia XZ2 or sleeker-looking XZ3, you won't be half as disappointed. Both of which will be getting Android Q later this year.

The latest 2019 Xperia 1 (£849) was just released. You can look around for some unboxing videos, and make your own verdict. IMO, their different approach is refreshing, and who else but Sony are crazy enough to drop a 21:9 aspect ratio phone.

There are also rumors of a Folding Screen and 5G version, but in very early development. @HarborFront might be interested in this.

Sony Xperia might be the Underdog of the Smartphones, but it's the exact reason I bought one. Who wants a same-Samsung or iPhone.

 

[Marko :)]

I have Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra and I can say it's the best smartphone I've ever had. It doesn't lag, everything works fast and smooth, camera is excellent and battery really lasts long. I think my next phone will be Sony as well. Glad to see Sony Mobile is continuing their business in Europe.