Sony to launch mid-range quad core phones?

It may be priced between Rs 9,999 and Rs 14,500.

Sony may soon launch mid-range quad core smartphones in the coming months, which is evident from reports that the company has ordered for Mediatek's quad core chipset, which currently powers phones like Micromax Canvas HD A116, Karbonn Titanium S1/S5, and Xolo Q800.

According to a report of China based Economic Daily News (EDN) report, MediaTek has received orders for its MT6589 solutions from about 20 clients including Lenovo, ZTE, Huawei, TCL, Gionee and Sony Mobile Communications. These vendors are likely to start rolling out an array of mobile devices powered by MT6589 chips in March-April.

The smartphones from Indian vendors which are based on Mediatek's MT6589 platform are priced between Rs 9,999 and Rs 14,500. Therefore it is expected that Sony products based on this platform will only be slightly more expensive, may be around Rs 20,000. However, it is not clear that whether Sony is looking to bring tablets or smartphones on the Mediatek's quad core chipset.

Huawei, which has also placed an order for the Mediatek chipset, is also expected to bring quad core phones with similar pricing strategy.

A good news with respect to phones based on this Mediatek platform is that the chipmaker has slashed the price of this solution (MT6589) by 10 percent (effective April), which can give more room to handset vendors to price it better.