Sony Europe eStore delays Xperia 1 II orders to end of July [Update]

Today is the eve of the launch of the Xperia 1 II flagship in Europe – the phone was due to be available from 18 June i.e. tomorrow. Therefore it is disappointing for us to hear from numerous irate Sony eStore customers across Europe who have been receiving emails saying that their orders will be delayed to 31 July 2020.

From what we have heard, the delay is only affecting those that ordered directly from the Sony Europe eStore, and not independent retailers such as Clove, or carriers such as O2 in the UK. If the delay is true, this is hugely disappointing news for those customers, who have already been waiting for months for the handset since the February reveal.

The listing on the Sony eStore still says that shipments start from 18 June, so we’re a bit perplexed on the delay emails. Either Sony has hugely underestimated demand, or the emails were mistakenly sent out. It’s also unclear what will happen to the free Sony WH-1000XM3 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones customers were promised in the pre-order promotion.

There are numerous comments on Reddit (1, 2) who have been affected by this. Have you been affected by a delay to your Xperia 1 II order? If so, where did you order it from? Do you plan to hang on to the order or cancel? Let us know in the comments below.

UPDATE: A Sony spokesperson has given the following statement, and the good news is that it looks like the emails were sent in error. Orders are still expected to be fulfilled by end of June.

“We are aware of a number of reports of customers who pre-ordered Xperia 1 II and have received incorrect delivery information due to a system error. We are in the process of issuing the correct information and would like to reassure our pre-order customers that their Xperia 1 II will ship from end June as expected. We apologise for any inconvenience this error may have caused to our customers and are working to prevent such errors in the future.”