Sony isn’t planning on taking it easy next year with their line of smartphones and looks to ship upwards of 50 million phones. Pretty ambitious for a company that hasn’t had the greatest success with Android, though is definitely making sure to get out there.
This year alone, they’re expected to ship around 35 million smartphones. The keyword though with all of this is “ship”. After all, Sony isn’t expected to turn a profit this year.
While the plan is to ship 50 million phones in 2013, most of the manufacturing will be outsourced, 30 to 40 percent to be exact. Who’s going to make Xperia devices? A few companies were mentioned and one of the most notable ones was Foxconn.
Foxconn makes devices for a slew of manufacturers from Apple to Samsung to just about any big time electronics company you can think of. Sony has a strong brand and they tend to have good looking phones. The big problem is cutting through all the noise.
Also, the UI they put on their phones hasn’t always gotten the best feedback, however, their target market isn’t hardcore Android enthusiasts. 2013 could be a big year for Sony and a big turnaround that would mean profitability. Or, it could be totally different.