Given the recent thread about Hirai putting the future of a healthy mobile division in doubt, I thought i'd share with you all a perfect example of an area of crucial importance that should've been addressed years ago - The US Market.  

Here's a breakdown of the situation in the US (we'll start at the launch of the Z Line to reflect the past few years):

• Xperia Z - Announced CES 2013, launched wordwide that year. No US launch. 
• Xperia Z1 - Announced IFA 2013, launched worldwide that year. Launched only on T-Mobile as 'Z1S' in 2014.
• Xperia Z2 - Announced MWG 2014, launched wordwide that year. No formal US launch, sold directly from Sony online.
• Xperia Z3 - Announced IFA 2014, launched worldwide that year.  Inferior Z3v announced on Verizon; discontinued 10 months later; Z3 released on T-mobile. Discontinued 6 months later.
• Z4 - Announced 6 months ago. US rollout on Verizon confirmed. US rollout cancelled as of yesterday.
• Z5 - Announced IFA 2015. Global Launch this month. No plans for America.

As you can see in the graph above, T-Mobile retains a meager 14% of Wireless marketshare in America.  Sony has been representing itself to less than 1/7th of the total market, nevermind the fact that you'd have to be an enthusiast to get two of the phones operating under ATT with no official backing.  Beyond this point, there's an erratic trend of which phones are being released - It's never the international version.  Instead what has been offered are gimped down versions handicapped by our market leaders with painfully limited promotion. With an eventual release on Verizon, the most recent phone to come out here, the Z3v has since been discontinued after a meager 8 month run on Verizon and 6 months for T-Mobile.  

Sony occupies no significant chunk for AT&T, Sprint, OR T-Mobile according to 2015 Q1 sales.

What's interesting is the lack of interest in these phones by major US providers - We know that they're cutting edge; They compete on the premium level with the likes of the Galaxy S6 and iPhone 6S.  The latest iteration, the Z5 will have the option to offer the worlds first 4K display in a smart phone in addition to a leading class camera and a battery that is known for it's stamina. So what's going on here?

At this point I'm sure you're aware of their dismal market presence - recent attempts at a shot of the cherry pie have proved futile. As recent as two days ago Verizon cancelled plans for the Z4 coming to consumers. Could it be that Americans just aren't interested? Truthfully I find that hard to believe.  Sony as a brand is known for being a tech powerhouse that offers the best of what Japan has to offer. 

If you take a look at this, Sony is the second biggest OEM provider for Japan behind Apple.  I think this may be one of the core pillars of reasoning as to why they haven't given up on the market yet.  But this healthy marketshare begs the question, is there some sort of piece in the puzzle we're missing when it comes to other markets?  

That got me to thinking - There's been a notable amount of media coverage toward the PS4 as a platform and Sony has made recent strides towards synergizing it's core pillars of income.  In a recent interview Kaz mentioned that a successor to Vita is not likely because of increasing competition from mobile gaming. Then we have the complete absense of any flagship phone in the states, Verizon recently dropping plans for an American Z4v, and a recent comment coming from Kaz himself reaffirming the companies willingness "consider other options" for the mobile division if profitability isn't achieved after 2016 and all of a sudden this void becomes apparent in their strategy;  

I think that they're looking at a path to execute a way to bring the PS4 platform together with their cell phone offerings in such a way that excels mass market adoption of both mobile and stationary platforms - a new type of ecosystem.  Many months ago the idea of a Vita phone was brought up with plenty of debate to go with it.  I was (and still am to some degree) on the "A Vita phone will fail" side of the fence.  The main arguements being that a phone with physical controls would be hideous, obtrusive, the OS would have no chance of competing against Apple or Android, it would perform poorly in the battery life department and face long term performance issues as cellular technology is on a much faster refresh cycle than other pieces of hardware.  There could be a way to integrate other functions between the two however and this is where they may see success - Not a true gaming device like the Vita but offering more than a second screen enhancement or perhaps unparalleled access to Sony services.  With Virtual Reality looming I can envision some sort of trifecta involving these three pieces of hardware, but I can't quite place my finger on the nail yet.

Saving that last part, the gist of it is If Sony wants to be profitable in mobile telecommunications, they should at least try to present themselves better to the US market.  I'm talking a full endorsment from the big 4, Verizon, ATT, T-Mobile and Sprint with the latest models being released at the same time as the rest of the world. Gimme dat cutting edge pl0x

Personally, I would've bought a Sony phone, had they actually had a decent phone tethered to the verizon network.
Unfortunately, they don't.
I don't understand what the problem is there, but it's hard to be successful in sales when your main network is only a slice of the crust.

I'm on Verizon and would buy one in a heartbeat personally.  The specs have always been impressive and I trust them enough to satisfy my needs as a consumer.

"Minimize losses by concentrating on limited carriers and focus only on the premium segment"

Sony's strategy for the US smartphone market, from their investor relations day in May, so I doubt their gonna expand to more carriers.

Apple and Samsung have customer demand that's why they can release the same model on all carriers for everyone else the carriers dictate terms.

Remember the carriers are the customers to Apple, Samsung, Sony etc in the majority of USA phone sales they are not interested in buying 10,000 handsets at high prices they want millions or they want them cheap Apple gives them millions of sales and South Korean and Chinese firms give them cheap.

Motorola owned by Chinese firm Lenovo.
Alcatel owned by Chinese firm TCL.

Notice Blackberry and HTC are in other that's the future for every smartphone company not Apple.

Top 10 selling mobile phone firms

http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3115517

5 Chinese and 1 Indian that's the future just look at the 4 company's that lost sales year on year Microsoft, Samsung, LG and Lenovo becomes of it's USA based Motorola subsidiary.