Sony has sold just 0.9 million smartphones in Q1 2019, down more than 50 per cent year-on-year.
The company revealed these figures in its latest earnings report today (July 30). In Q1 2018, it sold two million smartphones.
However, in 2018 overall it sold just 6.5 million smartphones, a decrease on 13.5 million in 2017. it is estimated that of those, just 450,000 were sold in the UK according to IDC.
Earlier in the year, Sony stated it would continue to invest in its mobile division and aimed to sell seven million smartphones in the year ending March 2020, as well as a reduction in operating costs in 2020 to “approximately 50 per cent of the level of 2017”.
And in May this year, Sony Corp’s CEO Kenichiro Yoshida said that smartphones were important for attracting a younger audience.
“Younger generations no longer watch TV,” he said. “Their first touch point is smartphone.”
Sony’s other divisions saw flat or declining sales, with it selling 3.2 million PlayStation 4 consoles, two million TVs, and 800,000 digital cameras, as consumers prepare for a fifth-generation PlayStation rumoured to be announced in 2020, and are increasingly looking at smartphones for their camera capabilities.
A Sony spokesperson said: “The smartphone market is a competitive space; we have seen a decline in sales for mid-priced models across the sector and the impact of consumers upgrading their handsets less frequently. We are committed to strengthening the capabilities of our entire product range – evident most recently in our latest flagship device, the Xperia 1, which has received widespread acclaim since its launch. We will continue to review both our product and sales strategy in our focus regions.”