Sony Corp. unveiled a new smartphone on Wednesday in its push to become the world's third-biggest maker of smartphones after Samsung and Apple.
Sony's Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai told a news conference in Berlin, where Europe's largest consumer electronics trade show will open its doors this week, the Sony Xperia Z1 will be available in September.
"The Xperia Z1 embodies everything Sony has to offer," said Hirai, who is under pressure from U.S. hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb to split up the company to revive its electronics business.
The new waterproof smartphone will come with a 5-inch display and have a 20.7 megapixel rear-facing camera.
Hirai in 2012 identified mobile products, gaming and digital imaging as the core of a rebound in consumer electronics after more than a decade of decline for the pioneer of personal music players and compact discs. It had a record loss of $5.74 billion in the 2011/12 fiscal year.
Of those three priorities, mobile has since emerged as the best near-term hope for Sony although it has a long way to go.
Sony's goal is to fend off challenges from China's Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp and Korea's LG Electronics to secure the No. 3 slot in the global smartphone market, behind Samsung and Apple which between them account for about half of all smartphones sold.
Sony has forecast smartphone sales to rise more than 20 percent to 42 million in the year to next March.
Source: Reuters
Sony's goal is to fend off challenges from China's Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp and Korea's LG Electronics to secure the No. 3 slot in the global smartphone market, behind Samsung and Apple which between them account for about half of all smartphones sold.
Sony has forecast smartphone sales to rise more than 20 percent to 42 million in the year to next March.
Source: Reuters
