Sony's President and Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai said on Friday that for now, Sony plans to focus on Europe and its home market in Japan, rather than the world's two largest smartphone markets, China and the United States. The Europen and the Japanese markets collectively account for 60 percent of Sony's smartphone sales.

"Those two are the most important areas for us and we'll put substantial resources there. But not yet for the U.S. and China," Hirai told a gathering of journalists.

"It's not realistic to try to do everything at once. In the U.S. we'll start gradually."

Currently, only the fourth-largest carrier T-Mobile US offers Sony smartphones in the U.S. Sony has been also unable to compete in China with local brands from ZTE to CoolPad despite contracts with the three largest carriers.

Under Hirai's leadership, Sony is trying to complete a turnaround of the company's electronics unit, by focusing on mobile devices, games (PS4) and digital imaging (CMOS censors).

In Japan, Sony ranked No. 2 in the latest quarter behind Apple. Still, Hirai said the Xperia's established reputation in Japan should help to see off the threat from Apple. "We have strong brand recognition here for Xperia's hardware and services," Hirai said.

The company has set a target of selling 42 million smartphones worldwide in the financial year to next March.