Credit: SonyTL;DRSony says its recently launched flagship Xperia 1 has witnessed strong demand, despite a price hike in its home country, Japan.The company pins the phone’s success to its improved camera and distinct features, such as the 3.5mm headphone jack and the microSD card slot.Besides these standout features, Sony attributes good sales numbers to the Xperia 1 VIII’s improved cameras.Most smartphones have long been bereft of features such as the 3.5mm headphone jack and microSD card slot, with only a handful of phones still carrying on the tradition. One of them is the new Sony Xperia 1 VIII, which launches in May and is available to buy across Japan, Europe, and the UK. Sony believes that despite the industry having almost forgotten these features, the headphone jack and microSD card remain “integral” to their flagship device.Japanese publication IT Media (via GSMArena) recently spoke to two Sony representatives about the Xperia 1 VIII’s sales in Japan. Despite a price hike in the home country, where the price goes past the 200,000 yen mark, the phone’s “sales have remained strong, and customer satisfaction is very high,” the representatives said in the interview. The team says demand is high, especially for high storage capacity models, such as 1TB, and the new gold color. The sales trend continues across different markets.