Sony may be planning MWC announcement for March 2

BY Killian Bell

Published 2 Feb 2015

image Sony Xperia Z3 unlocked

Just like in previous years, Sony will be showing off its latest devices at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month, but whether the Japanese company will announce any new ones has been unclear. For now, it is keeping any plans quiet, but sources say there will be a Sony event on March 2.

Unlike most of its rivals, Sony doesn’t give its flagship Xperia Z smartphones 12 months on the market before replacing them; they actually come a lot more frequently than that.

The Xperia Z2 was announced at Mobile World Congress 2014 just five months after the Xperia Z1 debuted at IFA 2013, and the Xperia Z3 was unveiled just 7 months later than the Xperia Z2 at IFA 2014. If Sony sticks to this pattern, then, an Xperia Z4 should be arriving at next month’s event.

But rumors and leaks surrounding the Xperia Z4 have been surprisingly few and far between, leading many to speculate that Sony won’t have the device ready for a March unveiling. Some reports have suggested the company is finally switching to a more traditional annual release cycle.

HDBlog.it claims, however, citing a “reliable source,” that the Japanese company will hold an event on March 2. It’s unclear at this point what it might bring, but we probably shouldn’t get our hopes up for another smartphone — at least not a flagship Xperia Z — just yet.

Sony’s smartphone division has been suffering recently; Reuters revealed back in January that it will shed another 1,000 jobs by 2016 as it looks to cut costs and keep the division going. Dropping flagship devices when they’re less than 6 months old in some cases cannot be good for business.

Even if we don’t see an Xperia Z4 at MWC, though, we will see new handsets from HTC, Samsung, and others.