Oh Indonesian Postel site (think FCC), how you leak Sony Mobile products like no other. This time around, we have the Sony Mobile F5122 and F3116. For starters, expect every phone this year to start with F as it designates the year.

 The coding follows the trend that we have seen the last few years, where the letter in the model number represents the year. In this case ‘F’ stands for 2016, whereas last year’s model numbers began with an ‘E’ and the 2014 models began with a ‘D’ and so on. 

But more importantly, the model numbers reveal the likely return of a budget smartphone from Sony, something we haven’t seen since the Xperia E4 in 2013. More after the jump.

 It is the first time we have seen a X3XXX model since Sony introduced the new model numbering back in 2013, so we are intrigued to see where this handset will be placed. More than likely it will be positioned just above the budget range – the Xperia E4 and E4g devices from last year had model numbers E21XX and E20XX respectively. 

If this is true, it truly seems like Sony cannot make up its mind on how to operate its mobile division. This shouldn’t be much of a shock to our readers, considering that we see products get announced with carriers like Verizon (think Xperia Z4) only to be canceled and the arrival of Sony’s flagship smartphones in the US but with no carrier support or fingerprint sensor.

Sony, as recently as CES 2016, touted on stage that they’re a company that’s after innovation and not marketshare. Looking back at 2016, you could see that as Sony lost more marketshare and pumped out more high-end mid-range devices and flagship phones which likely were more profitable per unit sold and play into their announced strategy. However the arrival of an E4-like phone signals that Sony once again wants to target emerging markets like China and India where budget phones sell in droves.

It’s too early to tell if this signals a strategical shift from Sony Mobile or if we’re simply getting the model info wrong. Either way, MWC 2016 isn’t too far away and hopefully we’ll learn more then.

Discuss:

Do you think Sony should release another entry level phone?

[Via XperiaBlog]