Sony's mobile division is aiming smartphone leaders Apple and Samsung with the release of a new device next year. Speaking to Financial Times Deutschland in an interview published on Thursday, Sony Mobile sales and marketing head Dennis Van Schie said that his company is planning to announce "a flagship model that will compete with Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy S3.

A spokeswoman also suggested that Sony's new flagship model would be announced at the CES 2013 show in Las Vegas in January and the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Van Schie said that the new device will be running Android, adding that his company is also "watching closely" the development of Microsoft's Windows Phone platform.

Currenty, Sony's share in the mobile market is limited, and according to the latest data released by Gartner for the third quarter of 2012, Sony in not listed in the top ten of the world's largest mobile phone makers. In addition, research firm Canaccord Genuity last month reported that Apple and Samsung combine to generate 106 percent of the mobile industry's earnings, with their biggest competitors - Research In Motion, Nokia, and Motorola - to post operating losses during the third quarter.