Sony is killing its flagship Xperia Z smartphones

Xperia Z will be replaced by Xperia X. Photo: Rajesh Pandey/Cult of Android

Xperia Z will be replaced by Xperia X. Photo: Rajesh Pandey/Cult of Android

Sony’s decision to launch a brand new Xperia X smartphone series makes a little more sense today after the company confirmed it is killing off the Xperia Z lineup.

The announcement comes just five months after Sony unveiled the Xperia Z5, and just two weeks after it went on sale in the U.S.

“A Z6 will not exist,” Sony Mobile Germany told a fan on Facebook (machine translated). “The new X series is under a modified concept that meets the needs of our users even more accessible.”

Sony is yet to make an official statement, so there is a possibility this information is incorrect. However, ditching the Xperia Z series to make way for the Xperia X makes more sense than trying to offer both, which is just confusing for consumers.

Sony’s Xperia Z series was already difficult to keep up with thanks to refreshes every six months, which some blame for Sony’s struggle to compete in key markets like the U.S. Not many smartphone users like to spend hundreds of dollars on a phone knowing it will be old news in half a year.

The Xperia X lineup currently consists of three devices — Xperia X, Xperia XA, and Xperia X Premium — which cater to the entry-level, midrange, and high-end markets. Sony hasn’t confirmed the full list of specifications for them all yet, so we’ll have to wait until they launch this summer for that.