Since becoming president and CEO of Sony back in 2012, Kazuo Hirai has taken a number of measures to consolidate the Japanese firm’s strengths and to cull its weaknesses. He cut back on the company’s TV ventures and continued the consolidation of its smartphone business, and in that latter respect, things have gone quite well. The firm has certainly helped push others to develop waterproof phones which I think we all can appreciate.
However, despite a consistent drive to move things in-house, Hirai has now confirmed that Sony will not begin producing its own smartphone processors. And this comes straight from the horse’s mouth, via an interview with PCOnline. While Hirai acknowledged contrary rumors, he said that Sony would continue to push features like 4K video and a further optimization of its product line.
He also hinted at potential adjustments to the Z line’s user interface to make it easier to use in the future.
Related: Xperia Z5 Premium goes on sale in the UK today for £600 off contract
Perhaps the most competitive aspect of what Sony is working on in the mobile game however is what it calls its ‘defensive,’ strategy, which is related to its pricing structure. This could mean Sony begins offering a wider range of smartphones in the future to cater to a wider audience, or that it begins aggressively targeting competitor smartphones with price cuts.
For Hirai though, improving the smartphone offerings from Sony as well as driving the resurgence of sectors like the television market, is just one aspect of his strategy, and he acknowledged that Sony still needs to improve its overall brand. He accepted that, compared to years ago, Sony’s influence as a brand name has fallen, so moves like adding Sony logos into movie trailers and other content will be used to increase brand awareness.
However, the firm does have a solid install base for its PS4 console to springboard off of, and while Sony won’t be likely to introduce the PS4 in emerging markets like China, Hirai did say that releasing more games there would be a possibility.
