Sony Mobile unveiled the Xperia Z1 last September at IFA 2013. Roughly six months later and earlier this week, it unveiled its successor, the Xperia Z2. It now appears that this was a very deliberate move and part of Sony’s plan to refresh its flagship smartphone more frequently than once a year. Sony Mobile Creative Director Kurozumi Yoshiro effectively confirmed that the move is in response to the speed at which the smartphone industry is now moving. “In order to maintain a flagship, you must update at this frequency,” explained Kurozumi to Japanese media at Mobile World Congress.
Kurozumi went on to explain that competitors will quickly catch up and pass anyone offering a single flagship smartphone per year. As a result, the Xperia Z2 will the company’s “flagship of the first half of 2014.” If this is the case, we can expect Sony to unveil a new flagship device in August or September. Could Sony announce the Xperia Z3 at IFA 2014 running in Berlin from September 5 to 10? It’s certainly plausible given how IFA is quickly establishing itself as a key event in the second half of the year for the mobile space.
Kurozumi also hinted that Sony Mobile may opt for more than a single design for its flagships. It has used the OmniBalance design for the Xperia Z, Xperia Z1 and now the Xperia Z2 but it now appears that Sony may have something new in mind for the next device.
While more frequent product announcements are welcome, there aren’t many customers out there who can upgrade their devices once a year (let alone twice a year). Sony will need to make sure it does not forget its existing customers to make sure they return to the Xperia brand when they do update. To keep them happy, it will need to make sure that it continues to support older devices with software updates. Based on recent actions, it appears that Sony knows that.
Source : XperiaBlog