Sony To Raise Smartphone Shipments By 55% In 2014

may never compete on the level of

or

, but the company is expected to grow significantly in 2014. According to

, Sony will ship 65 million smartphones during the fiscal 2014 (April 2014 through March 2015) period. Sony is projected to ship 42 million smartphones during the current fiscal period. If successful, next year's increase would represent a 55 percent bump over 2013. The Japanese tech giant may release its first Firefox-based smartphone in 2014. Sony currently relies on Android to power most of its tablets and smartphones, particularly those sold in North America. Compared to other smartphone makers, 65 million units may not be a very large number to ship to retail. Apple can

more than that in a six-month period.

With

sold in three days when the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C were released, Apple could easily eclipse its

of 47.8 million iPhones. Samsung is currently the world's largest manufacturer of smartphones and traditional feature phones. Apple, the second-biggest manufacturer of smartphones, is expected to be followed by

. Microsoft has not officially entered the smartphone manufacturing business, but the company is expected to do so now that it has acquired

handset division. Future "Lumia" and "Asha" devices (two brands that were originally conceived by Nokia) will be branded with Microsoft and Windows logos. To combat these and other rising brands, Sony may release additional models to target the entry-level and mid-range smartphone markets. Disclosure: