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Sony Mobile Middle East VP talks Xperia and plans for the region

Hirokazu Ishizuka, Sony Mobile VP for Mena, tells #GNTECH why his company dropped the Xperia Z series, the plans for IoT plans and why Mena matters

Last updated: September 15, 2018 | 22:31

By Gareth Kurt Warren | Deputy Editor — Technology

4 MIN READ

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Could you please tell us a little about yourself?

Customer retention is a main focus in your role, what is your vision to build customer loyalty and brand loyalty among Middle East customers?

How important is the Middle East for Sony mobile on a global scale? Where does it rank in terms of corporate priority?

You touched on consumers in the Middle East. Do you think the customers here are more interested in the lifestyle and branding aspects of smartphones? Or are they interested in the hard-core tech aspects of smartphones?

The Z Series launched last year and now we have the X Series, will there be any more?

So will it just the Z and X going forward?

Is there any reason the Z is being replaced by the X?

So would you say 2016 is going to be a very important and exciting year for Sony mobiles?

From 2014, to 2015, Sony mobile had a 2 to 3 per cent global market share. Do you have the figures for the Middle East?

Can you give us a preview of few of the IoT concepts that might come out in the next few years?

What do you envision for Sony mobile in the Middle East over the next few years?

So it’s safe to say that Xperia is going to break away from just being smartphones? It’s going to be a part of a whole other ecosystem?

Going forward do you think Sony will have a regular product release cycle every year?

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