I’m not even sure what to make of this. An unlocked Sony Xperia Z3+ has just launched in the United States. Carried by B&H Photo, a big partner of Sony since they exited the US retail space and shut down their online portal, the semi-flagship phone is available in an unlocked variant for $499.99 in black and white with a generous (?) 1-year warranty.

More thoughts after the jump.

You can’t even imagine how frustrating this is. Not because I don’t want see the Xperia Z3+ in the US but that I would have liked to see the Z3+ in the US 7 months ago when it was announced. And with carrier support. What’s more bizarre is that the Z3+ was mostly panned by critics as a half-ass stop measure until Sony pumped out something better which, to their credit, they did with the Xperia Z5, Z5 Compact, and Z5 Premium.

Who is this phone targeting? Especially when it’s priced at $500. You can’t even say the phone is coming at a discount in order for the company to gain some market share because, at $500, you’re pretty much into flagship pricing. Also, even if the phone was priced at something more aggressive, say $299, it’s been proven time and time again that the US market doesn’t care about unlocked devices because our phone space isn’t set up as such that people will then figure out which carriers the phone is compatible with and take their device there in order to purchase a SIM card and plan.

Finally, even if the US market was geared as such, by simply releasing a phone on a site that only techies and camera enthusiasts know about and not say, you know, Amazon which US consumers are far more aware of, Sony is basically ensuring that they sell no units.

And once again, really Sony? Not the Z5 series but the Z3+? It’s no wonder Sony Mobile is in disarray but I’m not sure anybody with any tangible understanding of the mobile landscape is making the decisions. But at least it comes with a 1 year warranty, right?

Discuss:

Does an unlocked Xperia Z3+ interest you?