Sony Mobile Communications aims to capture the second title ranking in Taiwan's smartphone market in 2016, according to Sony Mobile Taiwan general manager Jonathan Lin.

Sony Mobile ranked the third-largest smartphone vendor in the Taiwan market in terms of sales value in November 2015, according data compiled by local retain channels. However, the vendor took the second position in the NT$15,000-20,000 (US$447-596) segment, indicating that the Japan-based vendor still maintains its competitiveness in the mid-range to high-end sector.

The over-NT$15,000 segment will become a critical area for all vendors in 2016 as the sales portion for high-end models will continue to drop in the year after declining to 30% in 2015 from 40-50% in 2014, Lin said.

Sony Mobile launched a total of nine models in the local market in 2015, compared to as many as 24 models released by a rival vendor, Lin noted.