Sony stops making smartphones in Brazil

Sony has announced that it will no longer manufacture smartphones in Brazil. Although the vendor invested R$250m ($83m) last year to expand its mobile unit in the country, the end of tax exemptions for locally manufactured smartphones that cost up to R$1,500 ($530) has motivated the brand to move away from local production.

Instead of continuing with Foxconn and Arima for local manufacturing, Sony will now import products — like the Xperia X and XA — from China and Thailand.

Sony's marketing director Ana Peretti confirmed the changes to local news outlet G1 (via ZDNet):

The law of the well was suspended and we only have products over R $ 1.8 billion, so we decided to import these models.

Peretti also mentioned that the changes would result in a more flexible distribution system. Sony isn't the only vendor reconsidering its Brazilian strategy, as Xiaomi stated earlier this month that it would not bring any new phones to the country. The Chinese vendor stated that it would not leave the market — its first outside of Asia, only that it wouldn't launch devices like the Mi 5 or the more recent Mi Max to the country: