The Xperia name has been around for a long time. If you’re a phone enthusiast, surely you remember the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1, the 2008 Windows Mobile-powered handset with the slideout QWERTY keyboard, the panel interface, and the 3-inch display with a resolution of 480 x 800. There was the Xperia PLAY which was released in 2011 designed for game players with a slide-out game pad. Sony eventually bought out Ericsson in 2012.
Even after offering the first smartphone with a 4k resolution display in 2015 with the Sony Xperia Z5 Premium, the Xperia line just could not catch on in the U.S. and globally. Both in 2018 and again in 2023, Sony CEO Kaz Hirai said the company would continue making smartphones despite Sony’s inability to turn a profit at the high prices it charges for its devices. Earlier this year, analysis of the smartphone market ranked Sony at number 14 out of the top 20 brands with a market share of .35%. Sony was ranked just ahead of Asus and just below HMD Global, which holds the license to use the Nokia name.
Weibo tipster says Sony might use an under-display front-facing camera on its 2025 flagship phone
Speaking of names, the Xperia name might be done with. There has been some speculation on Weibo (via Notebookcheck.net) regarding Sony taking a scorched Earth approach to its smartphone business by dropping the Xperia name and moving to a new design language. The front-facing camera is expected to move under the display in 2025 which would beat out Apple’s use of such a feature by two years. Moving Sony’s front-facing camera from the bezel to under the display would certainly change the look of the company’s smartphones and might result in some pick up in the company’s business.
Introducing its first phone with an under-display front-facing camera would seem like the perfect time for Sony to take a sledgehammer to the Xperia name, design, and history, smash it into a million pieces, and start all over again. There is no reason for Sony not to be able to create a smartphone with a great mobile screen, spectacular cameras (after all, its IMX image sensors are considered to be among the best and its DSLR cameras are highly regarded), incredible sound and more.
It is about time that Sony produced Xperia phones that live up to the promise of the Xperia X1 and the capabilities of the devices created by Sony’s consumer electronics division. And hopefully, that time will start in 2025.
