Sony Xperia Z To Be Launched On A US Carrier In ‘Coming Weeks’; Will It Be T-Mobile Or AT&T?

Sony will be launching the Xperia Z, its current flagship smartphone, in the United States, confirmed the company’s CEO Kaz Hirai, but he did not say which network will adopt it.

"We will make an announcement about the Xperia Z with a carrier very shortly," Hirai said at the All Things Digital conference at Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., on Thursday, praising the device as “literally a feat.”

While Hirai didn’t provide any estimated time of arrival for the handset, Phil Molyneux, the president and chief operating officer of the company, later said that the device would be available in the U.S. market in the coming weeks. However, neither would confirm any carrier information.

Sony has been selling an unlocked variant of the Xperia Z, named “Xperia ZL,” in the US, but is yet to get a carrier deal for the flagship model, which it launched at the International Consumer Electronics Show in January.

The Xperia Z will have the same specifications as the Xperia ZL but will feature a glass back and water-resistance capability lacking in the ZL.

Asked how Sony would make the glass-backed waterproof Xperia Z stand out in the highly competitive U.S. market, Hirai admitted that the company has “a lot of stuff to do.”

He noted that the smartphone was the best-selling phone for six consecutive weeks in the super-competitive Japanese market and hoped that increased marketing efforts would help it achieve similar success in the U.S.

Xperia Z’s Carrier: T-Mobile Or AT&T?

In April, TmoNews reported that the Xperia Z was successfully tested on T-Mobile, suggesting it was time “to see T-Mobile and Sony change their relationship status from ‘it’s complicated’ to ‘in a relationship’.”

The report carried a few photos of the Xperia Z with T-Mobile branding. It also clarified that the model, which was reportedly under testing, was the original Xperia Z, not the Xperia ZL.

However, given that Sony has a long history with AT&T and the Xperia ZL works on the carrier’s LTE network, there is a fair chance of the Xperia Z teaming up with Texas-based AT&T, The Verge reported.