It just so happens that most times when I've been looking for a phone one of the sony phones has been more or less the best option in the price bracket I'm looking at.
I see somewhat of a difference between mobile and TV. With TV Sony had a very strong reputation which they lost to other companies, and now they are regaining ground and focussing on the high end high margin market segment. So they are still trading on that old reputation. With phones sony never got that reputation, so they are in a much more difficult position. It's hard to go after the high end when Apple is super dominant in that segment, with Samsung somehow holding mineshaft there too for no obvious reason than they seemed to get a jump on all other android phone makers. Sony mobile will need to spend a lot of money to cracked that nut, and as a stand alone that might be difficult. In the medium price range the margins are tight and it's a volume game. Again lots of money needed to market and capture a larger share. I don't think Sony operates at the low end, I don't think they make crappy enough phones for that segment.
So while it is good that Sony is sequestering the mobile unit, where is the in for them that will bring them to sustainability? It's going to be a much harder turnaround than TV without a co-investor to provide a cash injection. Unless Sony throws in several hundred million as seed money.
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