Chalk this one up from the rumor mill but it’s believed that the Sony QX Lens line for iOS and Android is going to be discounted in the near future.

 A trusted source shared some insights about the Sony QX lens-camera strategy. He has been told by Sony that they will fade out the QX sales in Europe and USA. For now sales will continue in Asia. 

If the line doesn’t sound all that familiar, you’re not alone. Introduced in 2013, the Sony QX Lens was suppose to help bridge the gap between smartphones and compact cameras by providing a true external lens with optical zoom. In theory, the idea was brilliant. Already own a smartphone? Then great, just have one of these puppies in your bag for that awesome vacation and take pictures that you otherwise might not have been able to before.

Even better was that the photos you’d take would live on your phone (could also transfer to a microSD card), meaning that they’d be instantaneously accessible for you to share with others. Unfortunately, the whole thing never really panned out. Though hardware could be partially to blame, the problem for the most part was buggy software. The lens would transfer photos too slowly, each snap took far too long to complete, and a majority of your phone’s camera features (this is especially for iOS users which Sony heavily targeted) were not available as you’d have to use Sony’s poorly-written software.

More after the jump.

It’s unclear whether the lack in software was due to poor engineering from Sony or the inability to access private API’s. An example of this on iOS would be that the Apple Watch is able to directly talk to your iPhone where 3rd party units like Withings and Pebble instead have to directly talk to apps and nothing on the system level. Android Wear isn’t all that different in that Google also does not allow watch manufacturers to tinker with the software and instead, they can make the hardware and watch face.

That’s a long winded way of me saying I’m not sure Sony would have ever been able to achieve success with the product and it’s perhaps something that only Apple and Google could make for their respected platforms. As an owner of the QX10, I certainly appreciated the idea but cumbersome software never allowed me to put it to much use outside of initial tests. So remember that nothing is confirmed but I wouldn’t be surprised if this held true.

Discuss:

Were you ever intrigued by the Sony QX line?

[Via SonyAlphaRumors]