Spotted Sony Xperia 1 VII and 10 VII model numbers hint at improved US release prospect

Concerns about Sony further trimming down its Xperia line can be put to the side for now, as model numbers for two different devices, probably the Sony Xperia 1 VII and 10 VII, have been spotted on the website for Vini – a telecommunications provider based in French Polynesia – and shared on Reddit. The previous numbers shown in the list, such as Sony PM-1496-BV and Sony PM-1484-BV, correspond to the two most recently released Xperia smartphones: the Xperia 1 VI (currently available on Amazon) and Xperia 10 VI, respectively. So, it makes sense to presume this new series of 11 model numbers pertains to the Xperia 1 VII and Xperia 10 VII.

However, there are six individual market model numbers for the series Sony PM-1510-BV to PM-1515-BV but only five from PM-1500-BV to PM-1505-BV; there is no record for Sony PM-1501-BV. Unfortunately, detective work to ascertain what market could be missing just reveals what a mess Xperia line OEM model numbers can be. For instance, 1500-1505 are listed first, so it could be safe to guess that they would be for the Sony Xperia 1 VII models, and there is a history of Sony listing its Xperia 1 models first (Mark 2, Mark 3, Mark 4, Mark 5). But both the original Xperia 1 (1220-1226) and the Mark 6 variant (1490-1496) have PM numbers that come after the Xperia 10 (1180-1184) and Xperia 10 VI (1480-1485).

It could also be presumed that as the flagship device, there would be more market versions of the Xperia 1 than the Xperia 10 – and this seems to be reflected in a list of model numbers. If this is the case, then the 1510-1515 numbers would be for the Xperia 1 VII and the 1500-1505 would be for the Xperia 10 VII, thus following on in style from the predecessor. This matters, because as suggested, fewer model numbers mean fewer markets, and there are many hoping for at least an Xperia 1 VII US release. Neither the Xperia 1 VI nor Xperia 10 VI made it to the US or Canada (North America market) officially, even though there does seem to be a PM number for a (canceled?) US variant of the Sony Xperia 1 VI (PM-1491-BV).

If all the guesses are correct, and that the Xperia 1 VII is the models from 1510 to 1515, and that the numbers match the same markets as the predecessor, then PM-1511-BV could be for the US market. 1510 would possibly be for the EU and UK, 1511 for North America, 1512 for the China region, and 1513-1515 for Japanese providers/Japan SIM-free. The “missing” model number for what could be the Xperia 10 VII, PM-1501-BV, could be for one of the Japanese providers (Docomo, au, SoftBank) – but once again, there would be no North American variant of the newest Xperia 10. Despite all the guesswork, the appearance of these model numbers at least shows that two new Sony Xperia phones should be emerging soon (possibly mid-May), along with a greater chance of the Mark 7 Xperia 1 making it to American shores.