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The Sony Xperia Z Ultra
Sony is working on a large 6-inch smartphone, a new report suggests.
According to DigiTimes, the Japanese company is currently developing the phablet-sized device, which is yet to be officially announced.
The device is purportedly being designed in Taiwan, and is claimed to be part of a move away from the manufacturing of entry-level devices.
The report details how Taiwanese ODMs are now focusing on mid-range handsets for Sony Mobile, which suggests that the 6-inch device might not be part of the company’s flagship smartphone line-up.
It’s not yet clear which Sony Mobile branding the alleged device will fall under, but the likeliest position is as a successor to the Xperia Z Ultra.
The Ultra was launched back in 2013, landing as a 6.44-inch smartphone with a Full HD display, a 2.2GHz Snapdragon 800 processor, and an 8-megapixel rear camera – very respectable specs for its time.
We’d expect a similar 2015 offering to carry Z4-rivalling specs, which would suggest the possible inclusion of a Snapdragon 810 chip.
Related: Best Android Smartphones 2015
The report also offers some information about Sony’s plans for the mobile sector in the coming year.
Sony Mobile allegedly aims to ship 38 million handsets in the fiscal 2015 year, which is down from the 39.2 million units actually shipped last year.
While this goal might be accurate, Sony could potentially be underestimating its potential shipments to avoid having to write down its predictions, an issue it faced last year.
The lower shipment target is likely thanks to Sony’s focus on mid-to-high end handsets however. By cutting out bulk entry-level devices, Sony will lose a huge number of shipments.
The fact that the shipment figures are only dropping by just over one million does suggest that Sony plans to sell its mid-to-high tier smartphones in large quantities.
