Sony is selling fewer Xperia phones, but the mobile unit is making money again

Sony Mobile has not had the best of luck selling smartphones in the last few years, as it recorded big overall financial losses for the division. Indeed, in its last fiscal year, the division lost a whopping $544 million. Its Xperia lineup of headsets have mostly not been available from wireless carriers in the big US market, either. That means people who want to get these devices in the country have to buy them unlocked at higher prices from online retailers like Amazon.

Recently, sales of Xperia phones have also gone down in Europe, where Sony’s phones have been more popular. However, the mobile communications unit of the huge Japanese electronics company is actually making money, at least for now.

[related_videos align=”right” type=”custom” videos=”720962,718314,701567,698903″]Sony revealed its latest financial results for the quarter that ended on December 31, 2016 this week. According to its figures, revenues came in at 248.6 billion yen ($2.143 billion) for the quarter, but that was a big 35.3 percent decrease from the same period a year ago. Sony said the revenue decline was due in part to lower sales in Europe and other regions where the company has cut back on its business.

The good news? Because of its downsizing efforts, combined with better foreign exchange rates, the division still brought in 21.2 billion yen ($183 million) in operating income for the quarter. While that income number was still 2.9 billion yen lower than the previous year, it shows that Sony might be able to turn things around if it releases phones that people may want to actually buy.

The company does have plans for launching new Xperia phones, and it will likely show some of them off in a few weeks. Sony will hold a press event on February 27 in Barcelona, Spain as part of the 2017 Mobile World Congress trade show. It is expected to show some new mid-range Xperia phones at the event, including a successor to the Xperia XA, which reportedly was shown in a leaked video a few days ago. It might also officially reveal successors to the Xperia X and Xperia X Performance phones. However, Sony is not expected to launch a new flagship headset at MWC 2017; it may wait until later in the year to show that off.

Do you think Sony can make a comeback with its upcoming Xperia phones? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.