Sony for many is an unknown presence in the mobile business, and understandably so as they don't exactly have a very outgoing marketing campaign or a strong presence on carriers in the largest markets. Paired with mobile profit sales that have been decreasing and a small 3% market share of consumers, some had thought that Sony may end up getting rid of its handset division and completely exit the smartphone market. These rumors were only further amplified when Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai had made a statement earlier this year that they aren't ruling out the possibility of a disconnection from mobile and that he recognized not all businesses can last forever.

According to Tim Harrison, Sony Mobile's Vice President of global communications and PR though, Sony will not be selling off its mobile division and they have no plans to do so. The way Harrison describes it is that many people misunderstood what Hirai was implying, stating that Hirai basically meant "look, we're a grown- up company, so we've got to leave all our options open." Harrison then stated himself that Hirai "was not saying, at all 'we are up for sale'. Categorically, we are not up for sale." That's probably just as clear cut as it can get. Despite rumors that Sony Mobile may be no more, on the contrary Sony Mobile appears to be living on, which is good news for Sony fans and potentially new customers alike, because Sony puts out some rather fantastic handsets even if they aren't reaching as many people as they should be.


This makes some sense as Sony just announced two new devices earlier this morning with the Xperia Z4 Tablet, their flagship successor to last year's Xperia Z3 Tablet, and their new mid-range device the Xperia M4 Aqua. Likely the lack of a new flagship smartphone at two of the year's biggest tech conferences made more of a case for the rumors, as Sony is typically known for putting out handsets on a 6 month release cycle. When a new phone didn't show up at CES like it was expected, rumors began to circulate. The good news is, Sony Mobile is here to stay.