Sony’s Xperia 1 VII launch hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing. The company’s latest flagship, announced back in May, quickly drew complaints from buyers who said their phones would shut down, randomly restart, or simply refuse to turn on. Sony halted sales to investigate and offered free replacements for defective units. Now, weeks after reiterating that Xperia remains an important Sony brand, the company is finally offering a clearer explanation — and a promise that it won’t happen again.
An explanation of the manufacturing error
With copious apologies and understanding
The Sony Xperia 1 is the company’s high-end flagship, but availability and popularity remain low.
In a statement released in Japan, Sony apologized “from the heart” for the widespread inconvenience and delays customers faced when trying to get their phones replaced. The company explained that a motherboard defect caused by temperature and humidity fluctuations during the manufacturing process caused the complete failure of numerous units. Essentially, a significant number of Xperia 1 VIIs were doomed by bad internals before they ever left the factory.
Sony said it has already adjusted its production pipeline to prevent this from happening again. The plan includes stricter monitoring of environmental factors (like the heat and moisture that caused this issue) during board manufacturing, a thorough inspection of all related processes, and a new risk-assessment framework that is already active within the production line. The company resumed sales of the Xperia 1 VII in Japan and Europe on Aug. 27, after implementing the fixes.
Customers who bought an affected device before the pause can check their IMEI against Sony’s support database to see if they qualify for a free replacement. Units flagged by the tool need to be swapped at a Sony-authorized service center.
Sony framed the incident as a “serious problem” that tested customer trust. The company said it’s determined to rebuild confidence in the Xperia brand by doubling down on quality controls. That’s a tall order, especially given the Xperia line’s already niche appeal in today’s market. But for die-hard fans — the ones still buying 21:9 displays and headphone jacks in 2025 — Sony’s repeated apologies might be enough to keep them on board.