Expanding on recent hints about its medium- and long-range corporate plans, Sony has reiterated that it will focus on areas of the business that are generating profits and have growth potential, and reduce risk and volatility. If you’re a fan of Sony’s Xperia range of Android phones, it might be an idea to stock up on spares now, because every signal now points to Sony’s exit from the smartphone market during the coming year.
Reuters reports the simple statement of CEO Kazuo Hirai: “[Sony] would no longer pursue sales growth in areas such as smartphones…’
This ties in with previous statements from Sony about its plans for the Xperia smartphone division during 2015. Significant job cuts have already been announced, the six-monthly launching of flagship devices has been curtailed to a yearly cycle, and with sharply reduced income and profit across the Xperia range, Sony has decided that it doesn’t have the fight left in it in the company and is going to withdraw from the smartphone world in the most cost-effective way possible.
The next flagship handset, the Sony Xperia Z4, is not expected to make an appearance at MWC next month.
Source: Sony's Smartphone Surrender As It Abandons Android And Xperia - Forbes