Xperia line may be mothballed as Sony rumored to be eyeing up phone with under-display camera by 2025

There has already been a camera-related rumor concerning the Sony Xperia 1 VI, but it appears there might not even be an “Xperia” name used in the future. There has previously been some suggestion that Sony might be ready to shake up its smartphone future, and the Xperia line has a solid 15 years of existence to its name. While it would be very hard to imagine Apple giving up its invaluable “iPhone” brand or Samsung waving goodbye to its “Galaxy” name, Sony could actually get away with introducing a new brand to its smartphone portfolio.

In fact, Xperia wasn’t always the main smartphone (and tablet) line; Sony (including Sony Ericsson) used simple letter and number combinations for its phones, such as K750, W800, and C905, before everything was tidied away under the Xperia brand name (like the Xperia 1 V, available on Amazon). But a post from frequent Sony Xperia leaker ZACKBUKS has sparked some discussion about a possible change, with the source simply stating “2008-2023 Xperia the best” in a recent Weibo entry. It very much looks like a memorial date range for something that has seen its time run out.

However, it seems a Sony phone in 2025, which may or may not be the Xperia 1 VII at this point, will at least sport some under-display camera (UDC) technology as a solution for the pesky front-facing “selfie” camera. It was recently reported that Apple is already expecting LG to provide such a solution for its iPhones possibly by 2027, but another frequent Xperia commenter reckons Sony will get there first, by 2025. Sony has stuck to inserting the front-facing camera into the top bezel of its Xperia phones for years now, so it would be quite the departure for the OEM and certainly not a bad time to introduce both a new look and new brand name to its limited smartphone output.