Sony Xperia event for pro gamers, streamers set for Sept 12: What to expect
Sony has announced that it will be hosting an event at 1 PM Tokyo time on September 12 (9.30 AM ). While the company hasn’t yet revealed what the event will be about, a teaser video suggests it is an “Xperia announcement” for pro gamers and streamers. The social media post announcing the event uses a “BornToGame” hashtag, hinting that the company could be launching a gaming smartphone.
The dedicated gaming smartphone market is a niche one that only a handful of brands like Asus ROG, Nubia and Lenovo Legion compete in. In India, We don’t have Lenovo’s Legion series of phones or Nubia’s RedMagic series, leaving the Asus ROG Phone series the only brand in the gaming smartphone segment, although more mainstream brands will occasionally launch a gaming-oriented phone like the Poco F3 GT.
Were you #BornToGame?
Don’t miss our next exciting announcement at Sony Xperia YouTube on September 12th 2022, 13:00 Japan Time.#Sony #Xperia #SonyXperia #ProductAnnouncement
— Sony | Xperia (@sonyxperia) September 7, 2022
While Sony is yet to confirm whether it plans to launch a gaming phone during the event, it won’t be a first for the company if it does. In 2011, Sony launched the Xperia Play, an Android smartphone with PlayStation-like controls that horizontally slid out of the phone. Originally rumoured as a PlayStation phone, the Xperia Play was Sony’s attempt at remedying the diminishing share of portable gaming consoles due to rise of Android and iOS smartphones and games.
Sony’s mobile division was originally incorporated in 2001 as Sony Ericson, a joint venture between the Japanese conglomerate and Swedish telecom company Ericson. According to BBC, Sony Ericson was the fourth-phone maker at the peak of its popularity in 2007, when it held a 9 per cent market share. But since then, the company’s market share has faded and Sony bought out Ericson’s share in the joint venture. According to CNBC, Sony Mobile held less than 1 per cent of the global market share in 2017.
But in recent times, Sony Mobile has had somewhat of a resurgence. Even though it hasn’t captured back the market share it once had, some of its latest flagship Xperia phones have received some critical acclaim for featuring top-end specs and features aimed at enthusiasts. Its latest Xperia 1 series of smartphones, for example, inherits many features from Sony’s Alpha and Venice series of professional photo and video cameras respectively.
If Sony were to enter the gaming smartphone space, it is possible that the company could include some exclusive features from its PlayStation ecosystem to make the device stand out against competition inclduing the Asus ROG Phone 6.
