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People are forgetting the Japanese market. Yes it isn't HUGE but sizeable. Look how well the Nintendo Switch is doing there compared to other consoles. They do love their portables.
 
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Xperia phones - Irrelevant since 2011!

I never understood how they make the best camera sensors, great alpha cameras, but absolutely awful camera phones. Every new range is the same "we have improved the software, by using input from the Alpha team" or "The Alpha Team have now taken over the camera software" or "The camera team, Team Alpha, have helped to improve the camera to produce the best quality images ever".

All the reviews. Great phone, camera sucks!
 
That's not why their dominance in portable audio players ended.

It was SonicStage.


They easily had superior MP3 players to anyone on the market back in around 2006. The Sony NW-HD5 was amazing; 20gb internal storage, way smaller size than an iPhone, way better sound quality, a removable battery (thank god) AND... waaaaay longer battery life.

And they crippled it badly with SonicStage; you didn't transfer MP3s to the device; you had to convert them to ATRAC in order to have your music on the player. This was a HUGE downfall.
Yeah, in the early digital Walkman players (and also late Minidisc) you could really feel the infighting between different Sony departments. Excellent hardware design, build quality and audio from the engineers, and then the studio guys swooped in to protect their precious content and crippled and vetoed until there was barely anything left to use. "Check-in and check-out a song to an external device", argh.

I still find Sony's industrial design superior to Apple's, generally, and in some way I'm still a bit of a Sony fan after all these years, but I hardly own anything Sony any more. I hope they manage a comeback.
 
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100% agree. They've made quality phones for a long, long time, but they have trouble making sure people know about their phones.
Have they? My experience of having to support some Xperias a few years back was they were terrible for providing new android patches in a timely fashion and almost never provided full version upgrades. Same with Sony laptops in the old days, customise the gpus so they cant use standard drivers, churn them out and forget about them. Sorry to vent a bit there but I cannot stand Sony at all and can never fathom why people rate them so highly!
 
Guess that iPhone shot wasn't Trump holding the phone... man some giant hands (I have the mini and guess I've got micro hands as well).

They could call these phones prison strip-search specials.
 
If this is a true thing, I would be seriously tempted by it. Apart from Google Pixels, Sonys were the best 'amost-vanilla' Androids out there. The fingerprint-in-power-button thing was perfect and I loved it. I had several Sony Xperia minis over the years until 2017 when
I went into IOS when I bought a family member an iPhone. While there's a lot to like (and dislike!) about IOS, there are some things about Android, such as multitasking, sideloading, and significant desktop customization, that I really really really miss.
 
I purchased an iPhone mini 2 weeks ago and love it. The only other phone I was considering was the Sony Xperia 5 ii because of that phone's superior camera and camera controls. I ended up getting the iPhone because there was no place in my area where I could actually see an Xperia in person. Not at the ATT store, Best Buy, Fry's or any other retailer near me. I live in the heart of Silicon Valley, so if you can't see Sony's $1000 flagship phone here, I don't know where you will. Frankly, the Sony Xperia "mini" is even more attractive to me because of the size, but Sony has no distribution and this won't be any different for their new mini. What a pity.
 
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Exactly. "Enter, Sony," as the article says isn't exactly accurate. Though, to be fair, about a year ago, I went on a search for the smallest flagship phone, and even Sony's had grown bigger than I'd like.
Sadly, their "small" flagship was the Xperia 5 at that time. Not exactly what I would call a compact phone anymore. But it is at least smaller than the gigantic table tennis paddle. 😓
I still keep the broken Z3 compact red, color is cute, no longer function though.
Is it red or orange? Can't decide.
Mine still works but sadly it is stuck at Marshmallow and not getting anymore updates. 😭
On thinking after my comment, I would be impressed if Sony could shrink a phone down to the size of the iPod nano. Something like the 7th gen Nano. THAT would be a game changer...
I had the Xperia Ray and it was as close as it gets. ;)
That phone lasted exactly 1 generation.
 

Sorry but this is EXCELLENT news!

Sony for the longest time was THE direct pusher for Android [Camera's, Games - PS Remote since PS3, Battery life improvements and low power modes - equal to none] far exceeding its staples and are now all pretty much integrated since Android 5.

Sony also was THE ONLY Smartphone maker to place full specs from their top end smartphones into the smaller form factor - only the LCD/OLED & battery size being affected; not battery life performance - smaller 720/1080 resolution helped battery life significantly.


This is great and welcomed, even if pushed, competition. I loved Apple's launch of the iPhone 12 Mini featuring not only the case within a case but also featuring 007 theme music since Sony has the rights to the franchise - a double jab in Apple's launch.

This will push Apple to bring Telephoto, pixel shift OIS, and RAW advancements to the 13 Mini next year. The camera doesn't decide on RAW capability - the sensor and processor do and I think both on 12 mini is equal to that on the pro Except for the Pixels in the 3rd camera. Still no reason to not bring this to the 12 mini using its existing lenses and sensors.

So competition - especially from the former crown in small compact high end phones returning - is a GREAT thing!
 
The only reason I haven’t bought the 12 mini yet is I want to actually hold it in my hands first. With covid and my local Apple store being closed to browsers it hinders my ability to hold the device and be confident it’s what I’m looking for. I think I’m not entirely alone in that which may be a small (or not) part of why the 12 mini hasn’t sold as well as people expected.

I’m just not someone who wants to spend a lot of time playing games or watching video on small (yes, I consider even the 10.5” iPad smallish) screens.
I don't know if it would work for you, but the shipping with Apple and Returns are REALLY easy. Perhaps try to order online for ship, and then box it up and return if it doesn't work for you?
 
On thinking after my comment, I would be impressed if Sony could shrink a phone down to the size of the iPod nano. Something like the 7th gen Nano. THAT would be a game changer...

Sony has had a line of digital walkman's targeted at the high end market for years - its a niche market and considering teh technology and how they've implemented what they have it'll not be as small as the iPod Nano.
 
My iPhone 7 -- which was brand new in September 2016 -- is almost the same overall size as the "mini" (albeit with larger bezels and a smaller display). It is larger than necessary because I can't navigate the screen with just one hand.
Times have changed? Really? In 4 years now all of a sudden peoples hands are gigantic?
 




5-5-inch-sony-xperiea-onleaks-2.jpeg

A fingerprint sensor is embedded in the power button – similar to Touch ID on the latest iPad Air – and a 3.5mm mini jack sits in the top of the phone for those who prefer wired headphones.

Other than that, not much else is known about the new Xperia Compact, suffice to say that it appears to be a direct response to Apple's decision to resurrect the small form factor phone. In which case, its relative success or failure in the Android market will be interesting to compare to the iPhone 12 mini's apparently mixed fortunes against Apple's other flagship 2021 offerings thus far.

Article Link: Leaked Sony 'Xperia Compact' Images Confirm Android-Based iPhone 12 Mini Rival on the Way

Oh and to our Article host ... Sony has been using Fingerprint sensor in the power button on their Compact and other smartphones since the Xperia Z5 released years back - I used to own one.

The way this article reads is as if Sony never did that and taken a lead that Apple done, yet it is vice versa.
 
iPhone mini was a flop - make no sense to make a device to compete with something that failed

Well I think that's a bit of an overstatement. Selling less than expected doesn't make the product a total failure, and doesn't mean that there's no market for it. I say that even as someone who favours Plus/Max sized phones. I think the 12 mini is a very good product.
 
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Isn't that just like Sony of today? Trying to compete in a losing market. Apple is realizing they aren't able to sell a small iPhone, and are shifting manufacturing away from it, and Sony comes, charging over the horizon thinking they will Own The World Of Small Phones. A world that practically doesn't exist. But it might do wonders for Apple's anemic sales of the 12 mini. People will get a look at the Sony and think, 'Gee, too bad Apple doesn't make something like this. Oh, they do? Well, I'd rather have an Apple than Sony baloney.' What, it could happen just like that... *shrug*

Apple ALWAYS shifts manufacturing from their products mid year due to demand and sales. They've done this with the Mac Pro of 2 generations, did this with the iPhone 5S end of its cycle, the iPhone 11, iPhone XS as well. This is nothing new, and production could spike up again.

If Apple could NOT sell the 12 mini - it would have a drastic price drop or pulled entirely off market. Too much drama.
 
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I wonder how well going back to the smaller form factor will work for Android versus the iPhone. I know the mini isn’t selling well for Apple.
That's cause the mini is barely featured in Apple' marketing globally on web and print. THAT is the issue.

Nobody knows what they don't know/see and if Apple just shows a picture against the 12 and not what the mini is capable of .... there you have the results. THAT is why all the tubers have had specific videos featuring the 12 mini and trying it for a full month many have switched to it as main device - to help Apple's sales and failure in marketing the 12 mini
 
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