Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Neo Release Delayed by Japan Quake

Sony Ericsson debuted its Xperia Arc smartphone, pictured above, at this year\'s Consumer Electronics Show in January. Photo courtesy of Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson’s Xperia line of Android smartphones were set to launch this spring. The earthquake that struck Japan last month, however, has delayed a wide release of the Xperia Neo model till the fall.

“Due to supply chain disruptions resulting from the situation in Japan, we have shifted the timing of Xperia Neo’s broader launch,” a spokesperson from Sony Ericsson told Wired.com. The phone is now scheduled to be released in the fall.

Sony Ericsson also stated that “some volume” of Xperia Arc and Xperia Play phones were affected by the quake, although the company declined to state whether the global releases of either phone would be impeded. The Xperia Play — an Android-based smartphone capable of running Playstation games which can be downloaded from the Android Market — was released in Europe in April, as well as the Xperia Arc.

Sony Ericsson says it will address the delays further in its April 19 financial results conference call.

With its 3.7-inch touchscreen, the Xperia Neo is the veritable younger brother to the Xperia Arc (which measures in with a 4.2-inch screen). But the Neo and the Arc share many of the same specs under their hoods — both come with 8 gigs of microSD card storage, an 8-megapixel back facing camera, and a 1-GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor running the latest version of Android for phones, 2.3 (Gingerbread).

The Neo currently retails for 400 GBP in England, which is a little under $500 US.