A Sony logo is pictured at an electronic shop in Tokyo
Not one but two Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 powered Sony flagships are reportedly waiting to be unveiled. However, CES 2016 event has been ruled out. REUTERS/KIM KYUNG-HOON

Not long ago, a rumor pointed out that Sony will be releasing five variants of the Z6 lineup namely: a 5.2-inch Xperia Z6 flagship, 4.0-inch Xperia Z6 Mini, a 4.6-inch Xperia Z6 Compact, a 5.8-inch Xperia Z6 Plus and a humongous 6.4-inch Xperia Z6 Ultra. But now, a new report from China said the Japanese tech giant would only be releasing two major devices in 2016.

GForGames, citing the credible Chinese source CnBeta, said Sony will introduce two new handsets in June and October 2016, respectively. To be specific, the launch and release timeframe will follow this schedule -- one of the two flagships will debut in May 2016 and this device will hit the store shelves in June. The other device will be unveiled in September, most probably at the IFA 2016 event, and will eventually be released in October.

This also means that Sony will not introduce the flagships at the CES 2016 event, scheduled in January 2016. This could be because the Xperia Z5 series of handsets, including the flagship Z5, Xperia Z5 Compact and Xperia Z5 Premium have been around only for a couple of months now. Interestingly, this series has not been officially introduced in the U.S. yet. However, many third-party sellers and retailers are selling this lineup in the U.S. without warranty.

Furthermore, the same Chinese source said the two flagships will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset. Speaking of design, the handsets are believed to flaunt metallic chassis. If this report comes true, the new series, presumably the “Sony Xperia Z6,” will be Sony’s first to carry a metallic back shell.

It is easy to assume that the upcoming Sony flagships will feature 4K screen resolution, as the Xperia Z5 Premium already flaunts one. But CnBeta has ruled out such a possibility for the Xperia Z6 series. In any case, readers should note that the Japanese conglomerate has not confirmed any Z6-related details thus far.

Phone Arena, meanwhile, said that the two-flagships-per-year idea has worked for Sony in the past. This pattern was followed by Sony for a long time until the end of 2014. In 2015, Sony unveiled a slew of Xperia Z3 / Z4 versions with minor updates like the Xperia Z3+ and Xperia Z4v, among others.