Sony reportedly revealed plans to discontinue the Xperia Z, C and M series in China and to focus solely on the new Xperia range with "X" logo.
According to Tech Times, new reports out of Asia claim that Sony is starting a new chapter in its marketing strategy. The company is not only discontinuing the Xperia Z line but also the Xperia C and M series.
Sony will offer a single smartphone series, the Xperia X range, to cover all market segments, from the high end to the entry level and everything in between. Some leaked slides from a Sony presentation surfaced on Chinese website ePrice showing the shift of focus in the company's product offerings towards the Xperia X series.
According to these presentation slides, "Chapter 1" has been focusing on an "open OS for web communication" and stretched between 2010 and 2012. Sony's first Android phone, the Xperia X10 launched back in 2009, was the highlight of this chapter.
"Chapter 2" was all about the "best of Sony" and covered the period between 2013 and 2015. The Xperia X series were at the center of the "Chapter 2."
From 2016 to 2018, Sony is up to "Chapter 3." In one of the leaked slides Sony is seen using in its roadmap the "X" logo for the "Chapter 3." The Xperia X range is said to signify "new communication." This is a "smartphone + IoT & cloud" chapter in Sony's roadmap.
The same logo is also seen in other slides for branding and promotional material. Sony will aggressively use the "X" logo in all its promotional prints and TV ads, focusing heavily on the marketing of the new Xperia X line.
This indicates that Sony will focus exclusively on its Xperia X series at least until 2018, promoting it as a single smartphone brand for all of its future offerings. According to Gadgets 360, Sony has announced the rebranding of Xperia at MWC 2016.
Alongside with the launch of three X-Series smartphones, the Xperia brand is now promoted by the company as an ecosystem of connected devices. The Sony Xperia X, X Performance and XA smartphones announced at MWC 2016 will go on sale from summer 2016.
Earlier this month, in Italy, France, Sweden and Netherlands, Sony has already started taking pre-orders for the Sony Xperia X Performance. The smartphone is expected to be available from early July.
