Sony’s Xperia smartphone business has been losing money for quite some time now. Despite rumors that the company was looking to give up on the business altogether, Sony has reiterated its commitment to making smartphones, but will only be selling them in four markets going forward. It’s exiting all of the other markets for a more sustainable approach to the business.
Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida said that the Xperia smartphone business is a pivotal part of Sony’s identity which is entertainment focused. “We see smartphones as hardware for entertainment and a component necessary to make our hardware brand sustainable,” pointing out that younger generations no longer watch TV, “their first touch point is smartphone.”
Sony used to be a big player in the smartphone market but that’s not the case anymore. It only shipped 6.5 million units in the previous financial year and incurred a loss of almost $900 million. The company confirmed at its investor day event this week that it will “defocus” on all but four markets for its smartphone business which include Hong Kong, Europe, Japan, and Taiwan.
It will no longer be focusing too much on markets like the Middle East and Australia. Whether or not this renewed focus for the smartphone business will achieve the desired results is another matter entirely.
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