Sony discontinues upper-midrange phones

Sony has discontinued its "Premium Standard" Xperia X and X Compact smartphone lines and will focus on the higher margin flagship and mid-range smartphone markets instead, according to reports from the company's 2017 Investor Day.

Sony's Xperia X and X Compact launched in early 2016 and were meant to deliver a premium build and design at a lower price-point by cutting specs. This approach seems to have been disastrous, as the company reported that combined international sales only hit 43 percent of their target. Instead of "Premium Standard" phones like the X and X Compact, Sony will focus on premium (such as the XZ Premium and XZs) and solidly mid-range phones (such as the XA1).

Still, even looking at Japanese company's flagship lines, Sony's last generation of phones did not perform well. While they met sales targets in their home country of Japan, their premium line only met 60% of their sales target internationally. Once a household name in the world of premium phones and smartphones, Sony has seen its market share decrease drastically over the past few years via a series of poor marketing and design decisions.