Japanese Consumer Electronics Giant, Sony unveiled its new Xperia Z1 smartphone at the IFA trade show in Berlin on September 4. Details are in line with advance leaks, including a 20- megapixel camera, 5-inch 1080p display, 3,000mAh battery, and waterproofing. The phone is scheduled to go on sale in mid-September. Sony also showed off new lens cameras, a smartwatch, and new tablets.
As with its predecessor, the Xperia Z1 uses across-the-board high performance to differentiate itself from the competition. The camera features not only a high pixel count but also advanced image quality (G Lens), image processing (Bionz engine), and functionality (30 shots/second, starts shooting before shutter is pressed). Image quality, processor speed, storage, and RAM are all on par with the tier-1 smartphone makers.
Sony thus has a fully competitive flagship model looking set to launch on schedule, and we view this as a solid advance for the new Sony Mobile Communications. We think this positions Sony to maintain or slightly increase its share of the smartphone market. However, we have also believed since last year that the growth of Sony’s smartphone business hinges not only on handset performance and form factor but also on sales contracts (or similar alliances) with mobile carriers.
With Microsoft having announced plans to acquire Nokia’s mobile phone business, we expect investors to focus on Sony’s M&A strategy given its status as one of the few tier-2 phone makers with upward momentum.