Skip to main content

Analysts estimate 4.6 million Sony Xperia Z phones sold in 40 days

Sony Xperia ZCheck out our review of the Sony Xperia Z smartphone.

The Sony Xperia Z has a lead on other 1080p devices and recent data suggests the early start is paying off.

Sony’s latest flagship is estimated to have sold 4.6 million units in just 40 days, analysts say, though official sales numbers have yet to be released. That works out to a little more than 100,000 devices being sold per day. The waterproof phone was announced back at CES in January and launched in March. The Xperia Z was the first device, besides the HTC Butterfly, to sport a 1080p screen. Fortunately for Sony, HTC never gave the Butterfly a widespread launch or much of a marketing budget so the Xperia Z was able to pick up the slack.

Having a few months to dominate the high-res market has definitely worked in Sony’s favor here. The LG Optimus G Pro was launched this month, but if the estimates are to be believed, LG’s latest hasn’t made much of an impact on Sony. Major competition like the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 have since been announced, but aren’t quite ready for release.

The HTC One experienced major delays that led to an abysmal quarter for HTC, but the issues are being worked through. The Galaxy S4 is set to launch in a couple weeks, making it unlikely that Sony will be able to dominate for much longer. No official word on whether the timing of competitors has affected Sony’s earning, but it seems very likely.

Editors' Recommendations

Andrew Kalinchuk
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Andrew covers news and opinions pertaining to smartphones, tablets, and all else mobile for Digital Trends. He recently…
The Galaxy Z Fold 4 isn’t just a good phone — it’s also my favorite computer
Samsung DeX mode.

Samsung is good at making some of the best phones money can buy. Samsung also happens to do a terrible job at marketing those great phones. Actually, the company sucks at it. The Galaxy Z Fold 4 is the best example of Samsung’s failure at telling a great story around a compelling product. Now, I have never recommended that a person drop $1,799 on a smartphone unless that person happens to be an enthusiast with a deep pocket. I know a few such people. But almost every time I see them toying with the Samsung foldable, I have the urge to scream “you’re holding it wrong,” somewhat like late Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

But I do remember actually telling a few proud Galaxy Z Fold 4 owners that “you’re not pushing it enough.” The Z Fold 4's folding tricks and hidden selfie camera are great, but the aspect that really stands out for me is the phone’s ability to turn into a terrific secondary screen and a full-blown computing machine that can drive its own peripherals. It's for this reason the Galaxy Z Fold 4 has become one of my favorite computers.
Goodbye, distractions
Running mobile apps on your PC is a massively underrated convenience. Nadeem Sarwar / DigitalTrends

Read more
One week with the Galaxy Z Flip 4 made me a folding phone believer
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 Bora Purple open standing

Prior to the iPhone, cell phones came in all sorts of interesting form factors. We had flip phones, sliding phones, tiny phones, and more. I remember one of my first cell phones was a hybrid of a smartphone with a flimsy flip cover that I got through Sprint. Then came phones like the Motorola Razr, which everyone had; if you didn’t, you weren’t “cool.” But once the iPhone came out, every phone after began to look the same — a slab of glass and metal.

This trend continues to this day, which is, let’s face it, a bit boring. That’s why I was so intrigued by the idea of folding and flip phones, such as the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold and Galaxy Z Flip series. Samsung is dominating the foldable phone market at the moment, as there isn’t much competition from other manufacturers, especially in the U.S.

Read more
I used a phone that’s the opposite of the Galaxy Z Fold 4, and I want more
The top of the open Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Huawei Mate Xs 2.

You’d be forgiven for thinking there was only one way to fold a smartphone — after all, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is really the only game in town if you want a big-screen foldable today, and other phone makers are following in its design footsteps.

Except, it’s not the only choice, as Huawei proved with the recently released Mate Xs 2, which folds up differently. The folding smartphone is still very new, but are we already at the point where we've settled on a single design as being the "right" one? Or is the (Hua) way a route worth following?
In, out, fold it all about

Read more