Sony explains why the Z4 was rebranded to the Xperia Z3+

Prior to the launch of the Xperia Z4 last month, there were many rumors that Sony’s next flagship would feature a redesign with new build, better display and a lot more. Then Sony revealed the Xperia Z4 for Japan and essentially, the handset was the Xperia Z3 with a few updated internals yet it came with a name that suggested it was a major upgrade over the past version.

Today, Sony has launched the handset in the UK but with the Xperia Z3+ moniker, which it revealed a couple of days ago. Speaking to TheInquirer, the company released the following statement explaining the decision to give the handset a different name to its Japanese sibling:

“The main reason for the name difference here (UK) is down to Sony being such a dominant force in the Japanese market [where] consumers crave flagship devices with the latest features as soon as they can be delivered. Xperia Z3 continues to perform well as our flagship device across the rest of the world. To address those customers that would like to have the very latest features and refinements, we have introduced Xperia Z3+ as a premium addition to our existing flagship Z3 series.”

As identified by XperiaBlog, the Xperia Z4 moniker works in Japan as that market believes the upgrades offered by the Xperia Z4 as worthy of a flagship upgrade but in other markets, these modest upgrades would not be considered enough to be worthy of an entirely new flagship model. As a result, the Xperia Z3+ was born but, of course, this will pose an interesting naming problem when Sony does eventually release its new flagship, which may or may not be later this year.

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The Xperia Z3+ brings a few modest upgrades that include a new Snapdragon 810 chipset, capless USB port and fast LTE Cat 6 support in a package that is smaller and lighter than the Xperia Z3. The initial rumors before the Z4 was announced suggested that the handset would have a metal build, Quad HD display and improved camera but the rumors turned out to be false for the Xperia Z4/Z3+. Maybe the true Sony flagship will be announced at its Hong Kong event tomorrow?