Sony is developing a new Xperia 1 VIII despite all the troubles with the previous model
The Xperia 1 lineup from Sony has always stood out among Android smartphones — the company follows its own vision of Android smartphones and doesn't really follow the general trends. Despite the company gradually reducing its presence in the smartphone market and having serious quality issues with the previous model, the first mentions of the Xperia 1 VIII have already appeared online.
Details
The novelty is expected to feature the flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip from Qualcomm. Models with numbers PM-1502-BV, PM-1503-BV, and new PM-1521-BV were spotted in the eSIM databases, indicating the existence of global and regional variants. For Japan, SO-51G (Docomo), SOG17, and A601SO are mentioned — this corresponds to the scheme of previous Xperia releases.
Sony has not officially confirmed any information yet. Camera details, design changes, and plans for re-entering the North American market remain unknown. If the company sticks to its usual schedule, the Xperia 1 VIII may be released in the first half of 2026 — about a year after the debut of the Xperia 1 VII in June. However, certification tends to happen closer to the announcement, so it's possible there won't be an eight-month wait.
Context
This year proved to be particularly unsuccessful for the Japanese company — Sony had to outsource the production of its flagship for the first time. This resulted in the Xperia 1 VII having many quality issues, and just a month after the announcement, Sony had to recall the model and reimburse customers. The company fixed production errors and resumed the model sales, but this situation significantly worsened the financial position of the mobile division. However, Sony firmly denied rumors of a potential shutdown of the mobile division. And as we can see, they are indeed continuing to carry their cross.
Source: www.gizmochina.com
