Some of you may be thinking that this is a weird title, but… it really isn’t. There has been chatter that Sony may give up on smartphones, or at least flagship ones, for years. That won’t be happening, though, at least not this year, as the Sony Xperia 1 VII is coming.
The Sony Xperia 1 VII flagship smartphone is coming, it has not been cancelled
The information has been shared by Ricciolo, a tipster. He simply said, on X, that “there will be an Xperia 1 VII”. He did not mention the Xperia 10 lineup, so we’re still not sure about a new model in that price range. We don’t really get many Sony smartphones rumors prior to launch, though, so… that doesn’t have to mean anything.
Sony has been in the smartphone business for a long time. First it was Sony, then Sony Ericsson, and then we switched back to simply ‘Sony’ branding. The thing is, the company releases only a couple of smartphones per year, and they don’t really sell all that well.
We can guess what the reasons are all day, but the fact is their phones are usually quite pricey, and they’re not exactly marketed to the extent of their competitors. On top of that, the availability is usually not on the same level either.
Sony cut back from 7 phones a year, to 2 phones a year
Sony has the pull to push its smartphones much more aggressively, but the company is not doing it for whatever reason. Back in 2021 the company launched 7 different phones, while we only got two last year. That is another reason why some people thought we won’t be getting any phones in 2025.
Sony allegedly held a market share of 3.5% globally in the first half of 2024. The company sold 3.5 million smartphones. That did not deter Sony from pushing onwards, however.
All rear-facing cameras could end up using Exmor T sensor
A rumor regarding the Sony Xperia 1 VII did surface recently regarding its cameras. It says that all three rear-facing cameras will use the Exmor T sensor. That sensor uses a dual-layer transistor pixel technology and should improve image quality and reduce noise in pictures.
A rumor that surfaced last year claimed that Sony plans to use a new layout for its rear cameras. We still haven’t seen an image of the device, so we can’t know for sure. The Xperia 1 VI launched in May last year, so we’re expecting its successor to arrive mid-year too.