Sony Mobile chief rubbishes smartphone business exit speculation

Sony Mobile chief Hiroki Totoki has rubbished speculation that his company was exiting the smartphone business, declaring Sony will ''never sell or exit'' its mobile division.

Totoki told Arabian Business, even though Sony let go of its Vaio computer business, and split its TV division into a wholly-owned subsidiary, the smartphone market was different.

Sony's flagship Xperia smartphones, considered among the best Android handsets in the market, had lagged in sales as against those from Apple and Samsung.

Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai had also earlier said that he would not rule out considering an exit strategy for the smartphone division. He had told reporters earlier this year that ''[Sony] would no longer pursue sales growth in areas such as smartphones …''

Totoki had in a way contradicted Hirai, describing as rumours that the company would no longer make smartphones, as mere speculation.

''The speculations arose because in 2014 we made a huge loss as a mobile business,'' Totoki told Arabian Business.

''It mainly came from the write-off of the goodwill of our impairment asset. When we bought back Ericsson's share [in 2012], we bought back 100 per cent of it. And obviously that price was high. We had to write it down and it made a substantial loss for the company.

''But this was an accounting loss and did not impact our cash flow. Our cash flow is very healthy. But the accounting loss was so huge - that's why people have speculated like this.''

According to commentators, the signals coming out of Sony regarding its mobile and smartphone division had been muddled, and that had damaged confidence in the smartphone line-up.

The Xperia handsets offered some of the best specs among Android handsets on the market, but the Japanese company had not been able to maximise the return on the hardware.

The flagship Xperia handsets had the specifications, design, and power, to compete against any other Android handset, and some experts believe that the 'Z' handsets were the equal of the Apple's iPhone handsets.

Customers saw their smartphones as an investment over the life of a contract and they wanted the manufacturer to be as committed to a platform as they would be. Sony's public commitment had weakened, and Totoki would do well to re-engage the public with the brand and to communicate the passion Sony had for the product range, commentators say.