Wireless equipment distributor Brightstar announced plans to bring Sony’s Xperia smartphones such as the Xperia S, Xperia P and Xperia U to the U.S. market. Under the deal, Brightstar will use its vast distribution network (including more than 450,000 square feet of warehouse facilities) across North America to help the Japanese company get a decent market share.
Now that’s all cool, but I’m not sure that’s enough. You see, usually phones hit the mainstream after a deal with one of four major carriers (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile). That’s not the case here and even though we’re pretty confident Brightstar will try to reach a deal with some mobile operator, something tells me they may not be successful in that endeavor. I’ve no doubts that Sony is pitching carriers on its end, but they [operators] don’t seem responsive at the moment. Sure, the Xperia ion is slated to hit AT&T’s portfolio but other than that – we haven’t heard anything else.
We’ll make sure to follow Sony’s quest for a U.S. smartphone user and let you know as soon as we hear something interesting. Stay tuned in the meantime, k?