Sony C3 Emerges: A MediaTek Powered Smartphone Chasing the Budget Market?
It has been rumored for quite some time that Sony was looking to enter the Chinese budget market with a smartphone that would still be desired for its design and feature set without carrying a high price tag. According to a leaked image (above), Sony plans to do this by utilizing the MediaTek MT6589, a low-end quad-core CPU clocked at 1.2 Ghz. For those of you unfamiliar with MediaTek, this processor is considered low-end because it is founded on the more power-conscious Cortex A7 core design, versus the more powerful Cortex A9 or A15 designs.
If this pans out to be true, then the first smartphone, dubbed the “C3”, will house either the MT6589 or the upgraded MT6589T (clocked at 1.5 Ghz). The device looks similar to the Xperia Z and would have the familiar branding already when it decides to hit retail shelves.
The MediaTek CPU could be the key to allow Sony to enter the budget market without pushing consumers into a high priced device. We know a lot of smartphone users who now spend more time on their tablets than on their phone, which could create less of a need for a high end phone.
Right now this is still all speculation with not a lot of concrete details to go on, but we’ll continue to keep you covered as this unfolds.
Just how is the mt6589 a low end chip, when it is faster than the Qualcomm s4 Krait found in both the premium HTC one x and Samsung galaxy s3 phones?? I think you mean inexpensive and market disrupting. It is in fact equally fast as the Exynos 4412 quad-core found in the galaxy note 2.