When looking at the greater world economy, this isn’t all that surprising. A decade ago, Brazil was poised to be join the top 5 economies of the world but today, the country is near economic collapse. Making matters worse for business has been the less than stellar treatment of outside companies doing business there.

Now Sony Mobile is finally leaving the country though they’re not the only ones to exit. Angelica Mari writes for ZDnet:

 Another mobile manufacturer that decided to downsize operations in Brazil recently is Xiaomi – the Chinese company ended its local manufacturing deal with Foxconn just a year after launching operations in the country. 

As for Sony,

 the end of tax exemptions for local production of smartphones and computers costing up to R$1,500 ($530) has prompted the firm to only sell imported devices in the country. 

No surprise to see Sony taking its manufacturing to Asia, though it’s worth remembering that Sony is also building their own plant to produce Xperia devices.

 Sony devices such as the Xperia X and Xperia XA, launched in Brazil earlier this month, are part of the new strategy and are assembled in China and Thailand.

Prior to this change of plans, Sony smartphones were produced in Brazil by Foxconn and Arima in manufacturing plants based in the countryside of São Paulo. 

Sony’s new Xperia X family has been criticized for its price so perhaps the move away from Brazil to Asia will help out pricing on future devices.

Discuss:

Do you think the move will help reducing handset pricing in the future?