Sony Xperia ZL coming in subsidized flavor in the US on May 1 via Cincinnati Bell

As unfair as it might seem, a phone’s commercial success very rarely depends solely on things like hardware, software support or design. Instead, it often all comes down to marketing, how fast you can make a device available and how many major carriers you can strike partnerships with.

Case in point, Sony’s Xperia Z and ZL. By far the two most impressive smartphones to be unveiled in the first couple of months of 2013. And yet their potential for greatness is severely crippled by Sony’s cold relations with North American wireless service providers.
The Z is likely to never land in Canada and is only available in the US for now in SIM-free, “international” flavors. Meanwhile, the ZL has got a little more love up north, while in America it’s being sold by Sony in an unsubsidized form.
But wait, because there is after all one US carrier set to sell the Xperia ZL in an on-contract variant. Only it’s not AT&T, Sprint or Verizon, but Cincinnati Bell. That’s right, the minuscule regional network that serves the great city of Cincinnati, as well as its nearby suburbs in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.
Based on data from June 2012, Bell had roughly 0.43 million subscribers, which guarantees Sony will sell at least… a dozen of ZLs through the carrier. Actually, on second thought, given the network is planning to offer the 5-incher for $249.99 after mail-in rebate starting May 1, we’d be surprised if there was a single Bell customer willing to pay the piper.
But hey, let’s not be too negativistic about ZL’s future. After all, this is a start (albeit a rocky one), and maybe other, more important carriers will follow Cincinnati Bell’s suit. There were rumors of AT&T planning to pick the big guy up a while ago, remember?

In the meantime, you can check out our own Xperia ZL video review to see exactly what you’re missing. Or you can forget all about carriers and just take your business directly to Sony’s US online store.
There you can pre-order the SIM-free LTE-enabled ZL version (model number C6506) for $759.99. You can choose between the red, white and black variants of the phone, with shipping estimated for next week in all three cases. Will you be doing that or continue to hope one of America’s larger networks will carry the ZL after all?

Via:Phone Scoop

Source:Business Wire

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