Sony Suspends Sales of Xperia 1 VII Due to Technical Issues

Sony has temporarily stopped shipping and selling its new flagship smartphone, the Xperia 1 VII, in the Japanese market. The device, which was unveiled in May, has only recently started shipping, but has already faced widespread complaints from users.

Sony launched the Xperia 1 VII last month as its flagship for the year. Reviews for the phone have been mostly positive since then, but now, in a seemingly surprise move, the company has confirmed that it is temporarily ceasing sales of the Xperia 1 VII in Japan.

The company posted on the official Sony Japan website today:

Thank you for your continued use of Xperia products. It has come to our attention that the “Xperia 1 VII” smartphone is experiencing intermittent issues such as shutting down, rebooting, or not turning on while in use. Due to this, we have temporarily suspended shipments of this product and sales at Sony stores.

There have apparently been multiple reports in Japan of the Xperia 1 VII randomly shutting down or rebooting. The issue appears to be specific to Japanese models of the phone and is believed to be related to Japan’s Osaifu-Keitai mobile payment system. Global versions of the Xperia 1 VII are currently unaffected, with Sony’s press release listing the flagship’s SO-51F, SOG15, A501SO, and XQ-FS44 variants as the only affected devices, with all four being Japanese models.

For users who have encountered a non-functional device, the company has offered a temporary solution: hold down the power and volume up buttons for 20 seconds, then install the latest software update. If this does not help, Sony recommends contacting customer support.