This is a shame to hear. I really like my z3 compact. Of course, I had to have it shipped from Europe. I don't think this is a problem with the product.
Sony makes and has been making for quite some time some pretty impressive hardware, not just in mobile, but across a wide range of devices. There has to be some great technical/engineering talent there, but at the same time there seems to be a problem with management. Poor marketing and bad strategic decisions all over the place.<p>They've had bad marketing behind their phones for ages. I doubt many people remember the Sony P800 or P900 phones (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Ericsson_P900" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Ericsson_P900</a>) I had one of these back when most people were buying Nokia Series 40 devices. Back then the P800 was an incredible piece of hardware leaps and bounds beyond the competition, but no one even knew it existed.<p>Fast forward to more current times and look at the flop that is the Sony PS Vita. This is a great technical master piece as far as a dedicated handheld gaming device is concerned. But Sony threw in the towel early and won't push any AAA titles to the device. They have essentially said it is a "niche" product supported by indie games that has to compete with phones. Sony's top brass is convinced there is no longer a market for dedicated game handhelds; somebody better notify Nintendo. The 3DS has outsold the Vita by 36 million+ units despite being by far the inferior technical choice (don't take this as some sort of anti-Nintendo fanboy thing; I own both devices) when we compare the two devices based on technical specifications rather than libraries the PS Vita is the clear winner. This points to bad management and bad marketing.<p>Some of Sony's technical decisions have to be pushed down from on high as well; things like only supporting their proprietary overpriced memory sticks rather than standard SD or microSD is a greedy management driven practices that actively creates hostility and erodes customer loyalties.
It's a shame to see Sony these days. Growing up Sony was the cool/cutting edge electronics company. Now it's so disjointed. I feel they need new leadership at Sony hq