Back in early November, Sony Mobile France revealed that it would be launching the Xperia V (LT25i) in January 2013 for €529. Well, as you might have noticed, January has come and gone and there’s still no sign of the handset.
Sony Mobile France recently confirmed that the handset is still planned to launch but the date has slipped to March. It appears that the Xperia V will be on sale exclusively through Sony Mobile’s official webstore, suggesting a limited launch. This is hardly surprising considering that the Xperia Z (C6603) will launch in France towards the end of February.
We do wonder why Sony would bother releasing the Xperia V now, given it is so late. However, the handset does have its merits – it has arguably better ergonomics than the Xperia Z given its smaller display size (4.3-inches versus the 5-inch Xperia Z), it also may come at a cheaper price point than the €529 originally stated (this compares to a sim-free Xperia Z price in France of €649).
There is no doubt that the Xperia V is an excellent phone, but the phone was released in other European markets in early December. We do question whether it is really worth Sony’s effort in releasing the phone three months later, especially given that the new flagship is around the corner. However, as with anything, much of this will depend on pricing. Judging by pricing in other European markets such as Germany, it probably won’t be any cheaper than €499.
Xperia V: sortie prévue en France courant mars. Vente privée exclusive sur notre e-shop, plus d’infos fin février. twitpic.com/c2tegy
— Sony Xperia FR (@SonyXperiaFR) February 11, 2013
