Some stats just in: Sony is the second biggest seller of Android smart phones in the UK, leapfrogging HTC. That's according to numbers from Mobile Magazine, Android Central reports.
Sony sold 500,000 Android phones in the last 3 months here in Blighty, while HTC managed 440,000. But both are way behind Samsung, which sold a crazy 3.2 million Android blowers. That's six times what Sony managed. Break out the champers, Samsung, you're top dog.
Sony has been on a big Android drive recently. It launched the official Bond phone -- the Xperia T -- a budget handset in the guise of the Xperia E, and hinted it has something very special indeed up its sleeve for CES in January.
"We will create in the near future a flagship Sony model that can compete with Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy S3," Sony exec Dennis van Schie told the Financial Times recently. He also hinted the company could start making Windows Phone phones soon.
Sony is rumoured to be working on the next Nexus smart phone for Google. Nexus devices are usually flagship Android products, so the fact Google has chosen Sony shows how much faith it must have in the company -- if that rumour proves to be true, of course.
No doubt all the product placement in Skyfall won't have hurt Sony either.
HTC, meanwhile, has been struggling of late. Its latest, the HTC Butterfly, looks like it'll be a worthy challenger to the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, but it won't come to the UK. Which is annoying, seeing as it's a 5-inch, 1080p beast, with an 8-megapixel camera.
HTC is also rumoured to have an iPhone-challenging M7 in the works, as well as a 6-inch smart phone that'll make the Note 2 look like small beer. Here's hoping the company can regain some of its former glory.
Does Samsung deserve its top spot? What do you think of Sony's recent phones? And who was more intrusive in Skyfall: Sony or Heineken? Let me know in the comments, or on our Facebook page.
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Comments 11
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Nikolai Azerbaijan 8 December, 2012 11:02
I really like Sony. They produce products with a very decent balance in terms of performance, yet stunning looks and build quality. I own an Xperia S, although it can slow down sometimes under Sony's not-so-great TimeScape UI, I would rather have it than the awful plasticky SIII or Galaxy Note. Of course, it's all down to preference really.
anonymous 8 December, 2012 13:11
Now that surprises me- I do like the design of the new experia range but most of them are distinctly lacking adequate power and resolution, Sluggish Miro and J and despite ICS and poor resolution of Go for an expensive price- like I say, really nice designs and personally, I like the interface- simple and attractive, but there are some compromises. Perhaps Sony have overtaken HTC due to releasing several budget options in these ongoing financially tight times; Tipo, Miro, J, U, whilst HTC really only have desire c and i think the explore, then the wildfire s- not a particularly aggressive budget line up
CaptainPicard 8 December, 2012 13:16
It's really down to good marketing. Sony's 2012 range weren't superior to HTC's, and all HTC
CaptainPicard 8 December, 2012 13:35
^My HTC won't let me criticize it.
It's all down to good marketing really. Sony's 2012 range wasn't superior to HTC, not all phones had ICS at the beginning of the year and the Xperia T didn't arrive with JB, but Sony's adverts showed their products in use whereas HTC's showed a skydiver doing something... Same with Samsung, their ads showed the S3 in use around the world.
Both Sony and HTC phones were far from perfect, they didnt update their 2011 phones with ICS and HTC had many hardware problems, but Sony had the edge because of the bond film and really good marketing.
And HTC keyboard is Sh*t.
Dave Phipp 8 December, 2012 16:23
this does suprise me. my girlfriend has xperia s and she hates it, always crashing. she prefers my evo 3d and thats a year older!
anonymous 8 December, 2012 23:57
I'm gonna admit that I have a HTC One X and I think it's a great phone, HTC are so underrated. Seriously, why is the S3 sooooo much better than the One X. The One X looks nicer, better screen and has such cool features as well as Sense being cooler, simpler and better than TouchWiz. The only problem I can see with HTC is that they don't advertise their products properly, but people really should cut HTC some slack, they make some great phones!
Chris Denton 'Ichi' 9 December, 2012 17:19
I like the look of the Sony smartphones. It's a shame that they suck when it comes to software (Android OS) updates for their phones. The same goes for HTC. Also I'm not a fan of fixed batteries. I like the option of having a micro SD slot.
Chris Denton 'Ichi' 9 December, 2012 17:23
I forgot to add that I have a Samsung Galaxy S3. Love this phone! I had a Galaxy S2 previously which was a great phon. And still is ;-)
anonymous 9 December, 2012 22:38
I had the S3 & wife had HTC ONE X, I so wish I had taken the one x, its far better quality than my horrible cheap plastic feeling S3. I got suckered by the hype, boohoo.
anonymous 9 December, 2012 23:15
I got an xperia T cheap (free on contract) - after having had a One X. I wasn't expecting a lot from the xperia but it's really surprised me. The screen resolution is on a par with the iphone 4s, if not the iphone 5, and blows the S3 out of the water. The camera is pretty good (I was hoping for even better with 13mp). Music quality is very good, and the external speaker not too bad. It's very comfortable to hold, build quality is better than most and whilst I would have liked more oomph from the battery it just about gets me through the day. Although it's not as fast as the Nexus 4 (which I considered til Google screwed up), it feels better and with a and with an sd card slot, and free 50gb Box cloud storage for life, gives me the storage I need.
All in all not a bad phone Sony (my first Sony for ages- having previously had HTC, Samsung, Motola, dell and other androids!).
anonymous 10 December, 2012 09:55
Before smartphones, of all the different mobile phones that we had in our family at different times (Motorola, LG, Samsung, Nokia, Sagem, Sony), i found Sony and Nokia were the best.
So for my first smartphone a couple of years ago, I chose a Sony Xperia X10.
Great quality screen at that time and great to use for a few weeks, but I then had two replacements due to software bugs, hardware failures and touch screen issues, before my phone provider (a network) gave me an alternative, an Xperia Arc.
This was better, but after a while problems started to occur again.
I became so frustrated with it that I vowed not to get another Sony phone, switching to a Samsung Galaxy S3 a few months ago.
The Galaxy S3 feels cheap and flimsy by comparison, but it does the job well.
Sony will really have to get some good reviews for me to even consider going back to one of their phones now. My experience with them was very poor.