SoftBank to Sell Sony Flagship Phone

TOKYO-- SoftBank Corp. will carry Sony Corp.'s latest smartphone, the two companies confirmed on Wednesday, possibly giving the heavily diversified electronics maker's struggling mobile business a lift.

The Wall Street Journal reported in August that SoftBank will likely sell the Xperia Z3 for the first time in Japan, and also in the U.S., through its subsidiary Sprint Corp. A SoftBank spokesman said that Wednesday's announcement just pertains to the domestic market.

Sony's flagship smartphone comes with high-resolution audio, 4K-video and PlayStation 4 remote play functions. It will be available from November and will be free of charge in Japan for people switching from other carriers after the completion of a two-year contract.

It was only last month that Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai apologized to investors after the company said its projected net loss for the fiscal year ending in March next year would expand to Yen230 billion ($2.12 billion)--almost five times what it said previously. Sony blamed the company's mobile business, which Mr. Hirai said was struggling due to increasing competition. At the news conference, he said the company will be focusing on premium models rather than entry models, and it will be selective on which markets it sells the Xperia smartphone to.

The announcement means all three major Japanese mobile-phone carriers--SoftBank, NTT Docomo Inc. and KDDI Corp.--will sell Sony's smartphones. Analysts say the key for Sony to prop up its mobile business is to have a presence in big markets like the U.S. Sprint is very likely to announce they will sell the Xperia soon, people familiar with the situation said.

Write to Takashi Mochizuki at [e-mail]

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