Sony Mobile aims to double high-end market share with Z5 phones

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Sony Mobile aims to double high-end market share with Z5 phones

2015/09/03 18:42:18

Xperia Z5 Premium.

Taipei, Sept. 3 (CNA) The mobile unit of Japan's Sony Corp. is aiming to double its share in Taiwan's high-end Android phone market with the launch of three new smartphones on Thursday.

The Xperia Z5 Premium, unveiled globally on the sidelines of Europe's largest consumer electronics show, IFA, is touted by Sony Mobile as the world's first 4K smartphone with a screen resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels.

The 5.5-inch handset also boasts a redesigned 23-megapixel camera module that delivers a fast autofocus speed of just 0.03 seconds, according to Sony Mobile.

The Japanese company also launched two smaller Z5 series models at IFA in Berlin -- the 5.2-inch Z5 and the 4.6-inch Z5 Compact -- which are expected to hit Taiwan stores in early October. Local pricing for the phones will be revealed later this month.

Jonathan Lin (林志遠), general manager of Sony Mobile's Taiwan branch, told a press briefing in Taipei that his company holds around 15-16 percent of Taiwan's high-end Android phones that retail over NT$15,000 (US$462).

Lin expected the figure to reach 25-30 percent by the end of the year after the three new Z5 series phones go on sale, which he said would rank Sony Mobile as the top maker of high-end Android phones in the country.

In July this year, Sony Mobile was ranked the fifth-largest smartphone vendor in Taiwan with an 11 percent share of the overall market volume, lagging behind HTC Corp.'s (宏達電) 19.7 percent, Samsung Electronics Co.'s 18.3 percent, Asustek Computer Inc.'s (華碩) 17.1 percent and Apple Inc.'s 13.2 percent.

(By Jeffrey Wu)