It wasnât that long ago that the Xperia Mobile division of Sony Corporation ceased to exist on its own having been collapsed to a new division called Electronics Products and Solutions, alongside TV, audio, and camera product lines. Sony is no stranger to success in the cell phone market, although competition from Samsung and Apple in the high-end market, the saturation of the midrange market as well as its lack of innovation and failure/ slow adoption of industry trends reduced its market share to less than 1% by 2018, according to Counterpoint Research.
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As part of its strategic move to stay afloat in the mobile business, the brand has today said it plans to cut operational costs by 50% and will pull out of several markets in order to focus on a smaller client base. Sony has now shifted its mobile business focus to Japan, Europe, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, while it will cease to focus/pull out of India, Australia, Canada, South America, Mexico, Africa, and the Middle East, and while there have been reports that Sony has quietly ceased operations in these regions, this is perhaps the first official confirmation we are getting.
With these moves, Sony aims to return its mobile business to profitability starting with the 2020 financial year, but why pull out of these regions if it expects a quick recovery within a very short time is one question begging for answers.
More than lacking innovation, their phones were excessively priced for what they offered in comparison to the competition. It was long overdue, but even their so called “focus on a smaller client base” is going to miserably fail. Sad, but true with their market strategies.
I still love the Sony omi balance design but they just haven’t moved with the times. Their compact phones with top notch specs where a God send for people who like to fit a phone in their pocket. But I find it astonishing that a company of such pedigree and wealth still haven’t appreciated the need for screen real estate at a reasonable price and continue making phones so large because of the bezels and as a result are way behind the competition. Sorry but rip Sony as we are shopping elsewhere.