こうなってくると、本気で心配になるのが、Xperiaの将来である。ただでさえ市場のシェアを減らしに減らしているところに、今回の事件が今回の事件がもたらすネガティブインパクトは計り知れない。これがトリガーとなって、ついにソニーがスマホ開発から撤退、などということにならないよう、長年のファンの一人として祈るばかりである。 Not long ago, I wrote an article like the one below: [Xperia 1 VI] Was this upgrade the right choice—or a mistake??
Before Golden Week, I bought a used Xperia 1 VI. I'm generally satisfied with it, but the newly released Xperia 1 VII has been getting great reviews. On top of that, I recently won the top prize (30,000 yen) in the Loto campaign. So I was a bit torn—should I trade up to the Xperia 1 VII before the cashback offer ends in late August?
And then, shocking news hit: Shipment and sales of the Xperia 1 VII have been temporarily suspended due to issues such as the device shutting down unexpectedly.
Models affected: Xperia 1 VII SO-51F, SOG15, A501SO, XQ-FS44 — reports of random shutdowns, reboots, and devices not turning on.
In truth, there had been signs. I had been following feedback on this new model since its release, and from the beginning, there were notable issues with Felica and Suica not responding. Toward the end of the month, more serious reports began surfacing: “It started rebooting over and over,” or “It became unresponsive and won’t turn on (bricked).”
That said, when it comes to these kinds of product issues, you often hear loud complaints from affected users on social media, while the silent majority continues using the device without problems. So I couldn't really tell how widespread or frequent the problems were. (Also, the internet is full of both devoted Sony fans and harsh critics…)
In the past, early Xperia models had their own troubles too. But this time feels deeper—and more insidious. That’s because many of the issues are occurring not immediately after purchase, but rather after about two weeks. Even if it’s still under warranty, a bricked phone means reinstalling all your apps—and for those with tempered glass screen protectors and other customizations, that’s a pain. Worse, you never know when your main smartphone might suddenly stop working. And remember, this is a high-end model priced at over 200,000 yen.
What’s even more concerning is that it’s still unclear whether the root cause is software-related or a hardware defect. Sony released an emergency update a few days before the announcement, but now that they’ve halted sales entirely, does that mean the update didn’t fix the problem? Or are they planning to resume shipments after a firmware revision? Nobody really knows.
One possibility being discussed is that Sony stopped producing the Xperia in their own factory in Thailand and outsourced manufacturing to a Chinese company. That company reportedly had a similar "bricking" issue in the past with the Zenfone 8. If the issue turns out to be hardware-related, Sony will need to urgently determine which batches are affected, how many units were sold globally, and possibly issue a recall for the affected models.
At this point, I’m genuinely worried about the future of Xperia. Its market share has already been shrinking, and the negative impact of this incident could be huge. I just hope this doesn’t become the final straw that pushes Sony to withdraw from the smartphone business altogether. As a longtime fan, all I can do is hope for the best.