Sony admits Xperia Z2 will be in short supply at launch

Sony has confirmed that its new flagship smartphone, the Xperia Z2, will be in short supply at launch here in the UK, but denied it would be postponing the release date any further than originally planned.

As last week’s rumours suggested, Sony appears to be having trouble with one of its manufacturing partners, to the point that it can’t make enough handsets to guarantee global availability.

A statement from Sony has suggested that all pre-orders made through “key retail partners” will be fulfilled in the UK come launch day, so if you were keen enough to put your money down upfront you should be safe, but there will definitely be some shortages for other customers. The company doesn’t expect to “meet the high demand across all our sales channels”.

Sony has already removed the Xperia Z2 pre-order page from its European and Asian online stores, in order for manufacturing to catch up with demand. Sony Xperia GB tweeted “Due to current stock levels, the Estore are currently not taking any more pre-orders at this moment in time.” when asked by a potential customer where the listing had gone.

Sony may not be alone when it comes to manufacturing issues, as fingerprint sensor yield issues are reportedly causing problems for Samsung’s Galaxy S5.

Built to replace the Xperia Z and Xperia Z1, the Xperia Z2 has a bigger screen but slimmer display bezels, a thinner and lighter chassis which is both water- and dust-proof, and more powerful internals. In the UK, at least, Sony is also bundling a pair of active noise-cancelling in-ear headphones with every handset.