14 DAY TRIAL // Japanese-Swedish mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson is forced to delay some of the latest handsets it unveiled to the world with Google's Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system on board. Due to the recent earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan, the company decided to push the launch of their Xperia neo smartphone to the third quarter of the ongoing year.
Moreover, the company announced that some of the other new Xperia models it launched recently would face limited supply, including the Xperia arc and Xperia PLAY.
For those out of the loop, we should note that Sony Ericsson announced a few weeks ago that the recent events in Japan would impact its business, and it seems that these are the first effects of that crisis.
“As Sony Ericsson continues to assess the impact of the situation in Japan on its business, we have communicated to our operator customers and distributors that some volume of Xperia arc, Xperia PLAY and Xperia neo phones has been affected,” the company explained in a statement.
“Xperia neo has already been introduced to the marketplace in limited quantities. However, due to supply chain disruptions resulting from the situation in Japan, we have shifted the timing of Xperia neo's broader launch and it is now planned for early Q3.”
The leading mobile phone maker also announced that it plans on unveiling some more details on the matter on April 19th, when it would also announce its financial results for the first quarter of the ongoing year.
Sony Ericsson also unveiled plans to have the Xperia neo smartphone available for purchase sometime in July, Clove notes, though there's no certainly that it won't be hit by further delays.
In early 2011, the mobile phone maker announced the launch of four new Android-based devices, namely the Xperia arc, Xperia neo, Xperia PLAY and Xperia pro (a QWERTY slider). The shipments of all these phones would be affected, it seems.