Hiroki Totoki has already discussed at length about the future of mobile and how Sony Mobile fits in it, and has even addressed the persistent rumors that Sony may exit the mobile business. Of course, the reason these conversations come up in the first place, and the elephant in the room, is the competition and how Sony has dealt with them. After the jump, Totoki talks about Sony Mobile and their competition.

Hiroki Totoki

 When we introduced the Z3 to the market it was very well accepted. But now we see a lot of emerging players, including Chinese manufacturers trying to make good quality smartphones, so the competition has become severe. We’re trying to introduce new technology in the future and diversify our product even more. The quality and strength of the product is always the starting point as far as strategy goes for the company. 

As Totoki points out, the Z3 was a well-received phone but I’d argue that it was the Z3 Compact that hit the sweet spot of features, size, and price point. Since that time, Sony Mobile has introduced the Xperia Z3+ (Z4) to some extremely lackluster sales despite the phone being full of features. In fact, you could argue that the Xperia line has never lacked ‘features’ but that hasn’t translated into additional sales. The question that Sony needs to ask itself is: Are the features they’re offering (like 4K video) the ones consumers want, or are they missing the pulse of the consumer?

Features alone also can’t help drive growth if consumers are either unaware of them or completely unaware of the brand and its products. For Sony, it’s likely a mixture of both; something that, no matter how many amazing technologies Sony introduces in their mobile line, won’t make up for lackluster sales until they are able to mount together a cohesive marketing strategy which introduces consumers to their products and educates them about the features/technology offered in them.

Discuss

Do you think Sony’s Xperia line lacks the technology and features consumers want?

[Via Arabian Business]