Sony cuts full-year smartphone unit forecast; ships 10.7 million Xperia’s in Q3 FY13

Sony has announced its Q3 results (three months to 31 December 2013), confirming that the company sold 10.7 million Xperia smartphones during the period. This is steady progression from the previous quarter, where it sold 10.0 million smartphones. However, Sony has cut its full-year forecast by 5 percent from 42 million to 40 million smartphones. This implies that the company expects to ship just under 10 million Xperia phones during the final quarter (three months to 31 March 2014).

We imagine the reduction in forecast is probably down to the fact that Sony is not planning on launching a flagship during calendar Q1 2014. However, Sony has reiterated its focus on mobile and tablet devices in other news this morning, where the company announced it is transferring its PC VAIO business to a new company established by JIP (Japan Industrial Partners).