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Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 delayed until April

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Posted 11th February 2010 at 2:30pm by Oliver Folkard

XPERIA X10

Sony Ericsson has seen the potential of the upcoming Xperia X10 to be an iPhone beater and as a result it is planning to hold back on the launch of the Android-based smartphone until April.

Some fans will be frustrated to see the arrival date being pushed back, but most believe that Sony Ericsson has made this decision for a very good reason; it wants to get the Xperia X10 right from the word go.

Whilst financial troubles were a big talking point amongst Sony Ericsson sceptics last year, it was the slightly premature release of the Satio smartphone, with its resultant software bugs, that really did the damage to its reputation.

The competitive nature of the smartphone market is taking its toll on all manufacturers at the moment and Sony Ericsson has learned the hard way that pushing through a product to launch before it is completely ready can be a fairly bad idea.

Blogger David Gehringer, who works for mobile testing firm Fanfare, said: "Given its recent bad press and negative PR, Sony Ericsson will most likely be hoping that the testing of its latest handset has been sufficient to restore consumer faith in its smartphones."

Mr Gehringer also said that the unification and cross-compatibility of smartphones was becoming a more significant concern to consumers, who were less willing to put up with sub-par software, regardless as to impressive hardware stats.

Sony Ericsson has probably made the right decision in keeping the Xperia X10 away from shelves for two more months, although only time can tell. Hopefully it will take the extra time to add in Android 2.1.

More news on: Upcoming mobile phones, Sony Ericsson, Touchscreen phones, Android mobile phones, Sony Ericsson Xperia X3, Smart mobile phones

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5 Comments

  • James Moody, 11th February 2010.

    Sony need to take to Apple approach to product releases. Keep it quiet until its ready. Sony did say Q1 originally, but that was a loooong time ago. The phone is now being written off before its released.

    Since this product has been announced, competitors have released new Android systems and better processors are on the cards. Plus if this comes out in April, the iPhone 4G is not far away.

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  • pib418, 12th February 2010.

    That's correct! Sony Ericsson for some reason thinks that by dangling future technologies in the face of consumers for 6 months or longer, it will make people wait from one missed deadline to the next one... and the next one.

    Consumers are not donkeys and the x10 is no carrot. There are more practical ways of energizing the market with a new product. Showing off a laggy unfinished version of the x10 with 1.6 firmware only exacerbated my fears that Sony has learned nothing from their long list of failures.

    The truth is I couldnt wait to buy this handset, however, this debacle of a launch has changed my mind. Sony Ericsson is just plain stuborn and incapable of changing with the market.

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  • Omar, 12th February 2010.

    Being a fan of Sony Ericsson right through from the first P series, I have bought every smartphone in the line so far. This is the one I have been most excited about and I have a feeling that it's the same case for others. Yes they always take an age when bringing things out. But occassionally, they do something right.

    However, because of the long and drawn out process, if this handset doesn't give us Android 2, I for one will also be taking it back and swapping it for the...and I hate to say it, Sony Ericsson,......HTC HD 2.

    If they want to be the market leaders again in any way, be it smartphone, cameraphone or budgetphone, they need to pull their finger out. BUT they do have time to turn this around, so let's wait and see what 2010 brings us.

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  • Eviltweety88, 1st March 2010.

    If this phone does come out on 2.0 or above I'll be interested GREATLY (I'm on T-mobile already). I may go for the smaller QWERTY keyboard friendly pro plus if they insist on 1.6 after the delay.

    Even though the hardware isn't as spectacular, we simply can't get a phone maker to understand that business people need a physical keyboard. Do you WANT the Blackberry market? Get a keyboard with awesome specs and we will FLOCK to it!!

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  • Your Mum, 2nd March 2010.

    Iphone 4G? James Moody, What are you on about? The only country even using 4G is Japan & Korea in a test phase...

    Indeed Sony Ericsson always do things the hard way. But time wil tell if the handset is worth the wait. One thing we know for sure is that the handset will need COUNTLESS apps, if it wants to contend with the iPhone. Period.

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