When Sony first introduced the DSC-RX100 in 2012, it delivered DSLR-quality pictures in a pocket-friendly, point-and-shoot camera. It was a trailblazing product that used a brand new 1-inch sensor when everything else comparable around it used smaller, less capable sensors. This is the camera that helped the company’s imaging division become the powerhouse it is today.
It was also primarily the project of Kimio Maki, who headed up Sony Imaging at the time. In June 2019, he became Executive Deputy President Sony Mobile and there are plans afoot to perform the same turnaround at the struggling mobile division. In the same way as the RX100 appealed to creative people who wanted pro-level products in their hand, Sony’s strategy to make its current and next generation smartphones more appealing follows a very similar path.
“We don’t say it anymore, but the best of Sony in your hand [a marketing phrase Sony used several years ago] is still valid,” said Someya Yusuke, Senior Communication Manager in Sony Product Marketing. He has worked closely with Kimio Maki for more than a decade.
When it launched the RX100, Sony gave keen photographers something that wasn’t really available anywhere else — DSLR photo quality without carrying around a massive DSLR camera. It mixed Sony’s talents to create a desirable, new product. At Sony Mobile, it’s also capitalizing on Sony’s overall wealth of technical expertise at a professional level, and integrating the most desirable aspects into a the smartphone. Beginning with the Xperia 1 and continuing now with the Xperia 5, tech from Sony’s broadcasting knowledge has been used in the display, and tech from its pro-grade and Alpha cameras has been added to the phone’s own camera.
It may sound like a company searching for a niche in a world where it’s now considered a small player; but Sony insists it’s not. The changes in Sony Mobile reflect what happened at Sony Imaging in the past, and that didn’t result in a niche win, it resulted in dominance of a product category. Sony is the world’s top full frame camera maker, and just 1% behind market leader Canon in the mirrorless space. In smartphones today? It’s nowhere.
Sony Mobile has been going through crucial changes over the past year or so, with internal shuffles bringing people from the camera side to mobile, and vice versa, and the most notable being Kimio Maki. It’s also now part of Sony’s Electronic Products and Solutions, or EP&S, where it joins imaging, TV, and audio products.
Sony makes the monitors used for reference by color scientists and editors at TV stations and broadcasters, and engineers who work on these products are involved in the development of the Xperia screens, and the Creator Mode software. This setting changes the colors, contrast, and quality of the screen image to one that’s close to what filmmakers use when scouting locations, or checking footage.
Netflix took a look, and agreed the Xperia phone screen’s colors and quality using Creator Mode are similar to what’s achieved in the professional space, Someya told me. It also pulled in help from Sony Pictures to fine-tune the Dolby Atmos audio, so it had a wider soundstage, and a more immersive surround sound experience. This is undoubtedly a fascinating collaboration; but regardless of what Sony says, it has serious niche appeal.
Source: Sony’s Camera Guru is Transforming Sony Mobile | Digital Trends