Removing Android is an absolutely horrid idea. The XMB was designed for gaming, not everyday mobile use. It has absolutely no software support from anyone outside Sony. They would truly be committing corporate suicide if they tried to get rid of Android.

The only way Sony can improve is offering cheaper models off contract and advertising better. It worked for Motorola, it can work for Sony.

This is exactly it. Vita already has an amazing OS, all it lacks is phone and text. Apps will come in time, and they do not all have to be their day one. If Vita can sell 10M to hardcore gamers. Then a PlayStation phone can easily match those sales, and should blow past them in no time. There is absolutly no competition in the market for a phone like this.

As you said, with all of these customers on a Sony OS and buying from PlayStation network, the relationship between Sony and the consumer goes beyond the day of purchase. In this case every dollar spent on the device from that day forward goes towards Sony's revenue and increases their profits. Sony would make multiple times more money selling 50M PlayStation Phones than they would selling 200M Xperias. The Android market in a no profit venture with no room for growth, PlayStation puts Sony in charge of their future and offers massive oppertunity for profit.

Do you not understand that there is no profit to be made on Android? Your example of iPhone is exactly why they have to make their own OS. Making their own OS does not mean trying to go head to head with Google and Apple tomorrow. They have to build around the base where they are strong. The PlayStation Phone would be geared towards Sonys highest spending consumers, and largest and most loyal fan base. If they sell 50M PS Phones it would be a more profitable venture than 200M Xperias, because these people would be using PlayStation Vue, PlayStation Video, PlayStation Music, PlayStation Now, and buying games and apps on PlayStation Network. Every dollar spent on the platform would be going to Sony's revenue and creating new profits, and massive growth. 

They have to attack this just like they have with home PlayStation consoles. They tack on an extra feature (CD, DVD, Blu-ray) and let it be a trojan horse to getting the platform places it never would have been. Then as the user base grows you start to branch out and market to the wider audience. Like I have said in other threads, the first 50M would be in the first two years. With that size of userbase, they would start to attract some apps on iOS and Android over to their platform, as they continue to become more competitive that migartion will continue.

They have everything they need to kick this off and be one of the top mobile platforms in the world by 2020. All they need to do is get the PlayStation Phone out on all major carriers and let the consumer take over from there. They would own Japan within two years, 4 years in Europe, and they would have Apple and Google shaking in their boots in the US by 2020.

Sony mobiles are causing loses? Crazy. I think these are by far the best phones on the market. Moreover, they are very popular in Europe, on par with Apple and Samsung. Crazy.

Black berry was first before apple

Why could most Vita-owners easily be convinced to buy an additional Vita-phone? They already have a better suited device to play Vita-, PSP- and PS1-games and they don't have to worry about draining their phone battery while playing a game.

And why exactly is a Vita-phone more convenient than a Vita + separate smartphone? Most Vita-games are controlled with sticks and buttons, so you would also need to carry around a gamepad-extension for the phone. Is it more convenient to carry around phone + extension than phone and Vita?

The Vita phone would be jack of all trades, master of none.

And they did it terribly and couldnt keep up with the times

Sony shouldn't sell its mobile segment, would be a huge mistake.

It could tho, sell its TV division if wanted.

As for dropping android from its smartphones, course not, android is on the rise. Only thing sony needs to do is focus on the high end mobile market. Samsung is dropping the ball on smartphones, and is giving room for others to take the flag.

So how long are people willing to wait for popular apps like Youtube, Skype, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Netflix, eBay, Pinterest, Shazam, good navigation apps and many many others?

Which navigation software can Sony offer? These services are very expensive for platform owners, get much hate if they don't work 100% and smartphone customers expect this feature out-of-the-box. The Vita used Google Maps until now, but Sony already lost Google's support.

Google will allow itself plenty of time before releasing YouTube, Google Maps and Google Music to a new directly competing phone OS.

Microsoft will allow itself plenty of time before releasing Skype or MS Office to a new directly competing phone OS.

Lol right, because all these companies making android smart phones are doing it because they don't rake money in from sales. Makes total sense.

And please enlighten me how making a new operating system on a SMART PHONE won't compete with android or ios? That's literally inevitable. There's no fucking way that someone looking toward their next cell phone won't compare the feature set of a Playstation phone to two other operating systems on the same idea of a mobile device. Sony doesn't have the financial ability to develop a fully featured, gorgeous UI without going through serious teething problems the first few years. The majority of the people aren't going to prefer a vita type OS over the other two well established OS' that already have massive Dev support. The market won't allow another major OS to enter, two seems to be it. Look at windows phone market share. Look at symbiam. Look at what's left of blackberry. You're saying Sony could distinguish itself by offering games but cell phones already do games the best they can. I'm not gonna lug around a gigantic phone that has 5 hour battery life with joysticks on it. Most PlayStation gamers agree with that as evidenced by vita sales. 

At this point PS4s appeal extends beyond gaming, and a major driving factor behind the uptick in stock value is PSVue. People have predicted PSVue over every other service is going to reach the mass market, not gaming itself. These are all things that people don't so on their phones. Music streaming, small games lacking depth, social media... That's what people do with their phones. I'd almost hope they release this phone just so we can watch it crash and burn but that'd be extremely petty and I don't wish that failure upon them. This might've been a risk to take had they the extra capital to experiment with but they don't and this is far too risky. If such an idea was feasible then the vita never would've existed in lieu of the phone youre asking for. 

Again, battery life would suck. No way it couldn't.

The phone would be bulky, thick and have joysticks.

The OS would be premature right out the gate.

There's a huge lack of apps.

All just to play vita games.

They can incorporate PSN into the Z4 without ditching android while marketing with that sex appeal factor. The things you suggest equate to corporate suicide.