Sony Xperia1VI was announced 1 week ago and it is the latest of Sony's flagship Android phones aimed at creative types. It was exciting to see the changes and upgrades Sony has made since last year, but since then, less encouraging facts about the launch have revealed that Sony had previously launched its flagship Xperias in the U.S., but a statement to The Verge confirmed that there will be no Xperia1 for the U.S. market this year.

In the United States, there are ways to buy it, as is the case with any phone. However, Sony has not prepared the phone to work specifically with US mobile phone frequencies, which could be even more expensive and may not be compatible with carriers.

It's unfortunate that Sony made the decision this year because the latest Xperia looked as if it was more approachable than ever. The new phone has been widened and shortened to match the ratio of rivals, and the trio of Sony photo/video apps have been distilled into one singular camera app, while maintaining unique features like a fully adjustable optical zoom of 3.5x to 7.1x magnification and a physical shutter button on the side of the phone. In addition, with Snapdragon 8GEN3 chip, 12GB RAM, 256GB of storage by default, and a 5,000mAh battery, the Xperia will be the key box for the flagship Android phone in 2024.

If I can identify one element that holds last year's Xperia1V and its predecessors, that's the price. One thing Xperia1VI hasn't changed is the price of the flagship Sony phone, which starts at £1,299 in the UK (the Galaxy S24Ultra and iPhone15Pro Max start at £1,249 and £1,199, respectively). If you can afford to, it would be more likely to draw users who would otherwise opt for more regular phones.

Note that we haven't tried Xperia1VI yet — maybe the US is avoiding duds without us noticing. But going into previous years, Sony knows how to make a good smartphone, even if it is one with a niche appeal. And that further shrinks the available options by skipping the US launch.

Competition among U.S. smartphones has been pretty tough among flagship Android phones from the Samsung Galaxy, Google Pixel and OnePlus, not to mention the respective foldable models of these companies and rivals made by Apple. But it is a surprisingly small number of companies for such a large market of smartphone users. 

As any Day One business giant tells you, in theory more companies involved in the market would be better off forging them in the fire of competition, but a company's withdrawal will worsen customers in the long run, even if it is temporary and makes sense from a short-term financial point of view.

I hope Sony doesn't make this a precedent and at least see future Xperias make it to the west of the Atlantic (or the east of the Pacific from Sony's perspective) I'm still happy to have access to the new Xperia here in the UK, but I hate Sony's mobile division going LG's way.Just because it can not get into the top 3 in the US

we will deliver a review of Sony Xperia1VI as soon as possible.This tells us how sad and reassuring American customers really should be. But if you're after a great phone that you find decorating the shelves of your local phone store, check out now here's our current list of the best Android phones or the best camera phones.