Sony focuses on megapixels with two new phones amid falling smartphone sales

The C5 Ultra and M5 phones will come with impressive front and back facing cameras which Sony is marketing as “perfect for selfies”. The Xperia C5 has twin 13-megapixel front and rear cameras as well as an enhanced front-facing flash. The smaller and more powerful Xperia M5 also offers a 13-megapixel front-facing camera, but has a 21.5-megapixel camera on the rear.

The C5 Ultra will have a 6-inch 1080p display and the M5 with come with a 5-inch 1080p display. Both devices will have 4G connectivity and will operate Android Lollipop 5.0 and offer 4G connectivity. The M5 has the added plus point of being waterproof and dust-tight.

The announcement of the new phones comes days after Sony’s latest quarterly earnings reported a loss of 16.3 per cent in its mobile division compared to the same period last year. The slump contradicts the growth in other areas of company including a 12.1 per cent increase its PlayStation consoles and gaming revenue and a 35.1 per cent growth in the Device segment of the company’s earnings, which includes camera sensors.

It’s little wonder that the Sony is focusing the marketing for the two new phones on camera technology given that it is one of the company’s strongest assets. Sony camera sensors are among the best in the world and are built into Apple's iPhones and Samsung's Galaxy devices although the majority of users are not aware of this.

Sony will hope that the new phones can help provide a balance between a decrease in mobile sales and its refocus around a smaller set of more profitable devices which may account for the lower phone sales.

The two new phones are set for release later this month however no details of pricing plans have been released.