Sony sold just 600,000 smartphones last quarter, as Xperia 1 shows no impact
Sony initially forecasted decent smartphone shipments of 5 million units for the 2019 financial year (April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020) but was later forced to revise the number down to 4 million units following a particularly terrible April-June quarter. Now, the company has modified its shipment estimates again.
Despite releasing the Xperia 1 not long before and continuing to expand its availability throughout the summer months, Sony managed to sell just 600,000 smartphones to customers across the globe between early July and late September. These results represent yet another record-low for the company’s mobile business and pale in comparison to the likes of Samsung, Apple, and Huawei. The latter, for reference, has sold an average of 600,000 smartphones per day this year.
Sony itself confirmed the numbers were unexpectedly weak by lowering its Xperia shipments forecast for the 2019 fiscal year once again. Now, the Japanese brand expects to sell just 3.5 million smartphones by the end of March which means it’s betting quite heavily on a strong holiday quarter and the Xperia 5. After all, it still needs to sell another 2 million devices by the end of the current fiscal period and the first three months of each year are typically Sony’s weakest.
Sony itself confirmed the numbers were unexpectedly weak by lowering its Xperia shipments forecast for the 2019 fiscal year once again. Now, the Japanese brand expects to sell just 3.5 million smartphones by the end of March which means it’s betting quite heavily on a strong holiday quarter and the Xperia 5. After all, it still needs to sell another 2 million devices by the end of the current fiscal period and the first three months of each year are typically Sony’s weakest.
While the exact level of unprofitability for Sony’s smartphone business during the quarter wasn’t revealed, the Japanese giant has previously confirmed that it doesn’t expect the division to start earning money until the first quarter of 2021. In the meantime, the company is focused on reducing costs and developing a range of 5G smartphones.
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