No new tablets are on track for a 2016 release

Feb 3, 2016 00:10 GMT  ·  By

Sony Mobile makes great smartphones, but it doesn't sell them. Joke aside, previously one of the world's largest mobile phone vendors, Sony's mobile division has been bleeding money for quite some time now.

The bad news is the future doesn't show any signs of recovery, which is probably one of the reasons that Sony Mobile has decided to cut its losses and compact its lineup of products to several devices per year.

In a recent post on a Japanese blog, a Sony store manager claims the company plans to withdraw from the tablet market, XperiaBlog reports.

The store manager's claims are sustained by proof in the form of marketing material, which suggests there are now new tablets on track for a 2016 release.

After successfully launching tablets like Xperia Z, Xperia Z2, Xperia Z3, and Xperia Z4, Sony Mobile now thinks that bringing an Xperia Z5 tablet in 2016 is not entirely viable from a commercial point of view.

Although the company's Xperia tablets have been met with favorable reviews from the press and users alike, they did not sell that well to justify the launch of another slate this year.

Competition in the biggest market makes it difficult for Sony to sell its tablets

The tablet market is very competitive, especially in China and other Asian countries where Sony Mobile is almost non-existent sales-wise.

Even though the information hasn't been confirmed by Sony Mobile yet, the fact that the Japanese company plans to pull from the tablet market shouldn't come as a surprise.

The good news is that Sony does not intend to sell its smartphone business and it's not interested in a merger with another major player in the market.

It's also worth mentioning that not releasing another Xperia tablet this year doesn't necessarily mean that we won't see another slate from Sony in the future.