Sony has taken the wraps off its next-gen flagship Xperia Z4 smartphone as it seeks to maintain a presence in the ever-competitive smartphone market.The Z4 sees Sony focusing its attention on the premium end of the smartphone market, taking on the likes of Samsung’s Galaxy S6 and S6 edge and Apple’s iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
The 5.2″ full-HD (1920 x 1080) display Z4 is powered by Qualcomm’s 64-bit Snapdragon 810 octa-core processor, comes with 32 GB internal memory and 3 GB RAM, and runs Android 5.0 Lollipop.
Housed in an aluminium frame, weighing in at 144 g and with a width of 6.9 mm, the Z4 is decked out with a 20.7 MP main camera and a 5.1 MP front camera.
Sony has not revealed an exact release date, for the time being stating the Z4 will be released in Japan around the middle of the year. Pricing for the Z4 has also yet to be revealed.
The upcoming release comes as Sony restructures its business units, earlier in the year unveiling a “mid-term strategy” for the next three years. There has been speculation about Sony’s
future in the smartphone business, with Reuters previously reporting
that Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai had not ruled out an exit from the market.
As reported by Reuters, Hiroki Totoki, president and CEO of Sony Mobile Communications, has stated Sony is focusing on the upper end of the smartphone market.
“There’s a broad variety in the prices of smartphones, from around $100 to $1,400 at the upper end,” Reuters reported Totoki as telling a news conference. “We want to focus in the upper half of that.”
