Sony Cell Phones

Sony is a trade name of Sony Corporation; a Japanese conglomerate that releases films and music in addition to consumer electronics. We know the company mainly from the premium TVs, the PlayStation game console and the mobile phones.

Sony history

Sony was founded shortly after the Second World War under the name TTK which stands for Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering. The company was successful in selling transistor radios and small portable televisions. In order not to stand in the way of global success, it was decided in 1958 to change the name to Sony. Sony's TVs were then sold all over the world and together with Philips it was the basis of the Compact Disc (CD).

Sony Ericsson

It was not until 1997 that Sony released its first mobile phone, the CM-DX1000. Most Sony phones at that time were distinguished by a spinning wheel on the side. Sony never managed to gain much market share and in August 2001 a joint venture was entered into with Ericsson of Sweden to turn the tide. Both companies would integrate their expertise and techniques in telephones focused on photography and multimedia. Some typical models were those from the W-series; a reference to Sony's Walkman and the K-series that had quite some success in the field of photography. Think of the K800i with its Cybershot camera with Carl Zeiss lens and Xenon flash.

Sony Ericsson focused relatively late on smartphones and stuck to the Symbian operating system for a long time, even when Android was already starting to emerge. It even had a short trip to Windows Mobile with the Xperia X1; also the first model with the Xperia name. The inconsistent strategy was one of the reasons why sales were down and LG, among others, caught up in terms of market share. In the meantime, there was also a rumour that the marriage between Sony and Ericsson was not going well. Sony bought Ericsson's shares in 2012, ending a 10-year marriage.

Sony Xperia series

In the meantime Sony only makes smartphones with Android under the name Xperia. That name is derived from 'experience'. Especially the first models in the Xperia series carried names. Some examples are arc, neo and mini. It was not until years later that it began to use only letters (sometimes several and followed by a number) to indicate devices. We've had a lot of them by now, but the current serial names are;

• Xperia 1 - Premium flagship
• Xperia 10 - Mid-range phablet
• Xperia L - Entry models
• Xperia XA - Former mid-range models
• Xperia XZ - Former high-end flagship

Within a series, Sony still uses subcategories, indicated with the following addition:

• Compact - Smaller but equally powerful version
• Plus - Larger version
• Premium - Premium high-end specifications
• Ultra - The predecessor of Plus; phablet variant

Sony Boy

To assist the international launch of the Sony brand, a mascot was devised. A comic-like character named Atchan. Because this didn't really get the name 'Sony Boy' internationally. The character had to sell the then smallest transistor radio in the world, the TR-63. With success because one and a half million copies went over the counter.

Typical Sony: BRAVIA, Exmor RS and ClearAudio+

Sony reuses many techniques in its phones from other parts of the company. Think BRAVIA and X-Reality from the TV corner. But also Exmor RS, BIONZ X and SteadyShot from the Alpha cameras and ClearAudio+ and Clear Bass from the audio division are widely used. This should provide an overall experience with so much added value that no other competitor's product can match it.

Xperia design style

Sony is known for its beautiful and eye-catching design. It also always tries to create its own style, which usually has its own name. The first real design style was Iconic Identity (2012) which was succeeded in 2013 by OmniBalance. A short trip was made to Unified Design in 2016 to switch to Ambient Flow in 2018. Applying such a design style should ensure that Xperia's phones remain recognisable, mutually resemble each other and are attractive(er) compared to the competition.