Sony’s Xperia 1 IX surfaces in IMEI records, hinting at a 2027 flagship

A Japanese outlet and the GSMA IMEI database show three Xperia 1 IX variants (XQ-H44 for Japan with eSIM, XQ-HH54 Europe, XQ-HH74 rest of the world) with model year 2027 codes, suggesting Sony is developing a successor to the Xperia 1 VIII. While Sony isn’t exiting smartphones, the looming DRAM shortage could mean higher prices when the 2027 flagship arrives.