Dubai: Sony is finally launching its flagship smartphone — Xperia Z2 — in the UAE on Thursday after close to a month’s delay.
The phone was initially supposed to be available in the market after April 15.
“The launch got delayed due to allocation problems. Other countries got the priority over the UAE,” Izzat Kittaneh, director of business management and pricing at Sony Mobile Communications Middle East and Africa, told Gulf News.
The phone was available in Saudi Arabia three days ago. Saudi Arabia is a bigger market for Sony than the UAE.
So far, Kittaneh said the phone is sold out in Saudi Arabia and expect to see a big demand for it in the UAE.
Other high-end models — Samsung Galaxy S5 and HTC One (M8) — have already been launched in the market and are doing brisk sales.
Good demand
“There are people in the market who know about the new phone launch dates and they will wait for those models, even though it gets delayed,” said Nadeem Khanzadah, head of retail at Jumbo Electronics, the main distributor for Sony mobiles in the UAE.
“We predict a good demand for the Z2. It will eventually make a come back as the strength lies in imaging capabilities. Other than that it is a regular Android phone,” Khanzadah said.
In the Middle East and Africa region, Sony sold 3.56 million smartphones last year compared to 3.12 million in 2012. The manufacturer is growing its market share albeit at a slower pace.
The Japanese giant sold 39.1 million smartphones last year globally, up from 33 million in 2012 and is forecasting to sell 50 million Xperia devices this year.
