According to reports on information provided by a Sony representative, the company is planning to remove the fingerprint sensor from the Sony Xperia Z5 and the Xperia Z5 Compact in units destined for the U.S. market. Both Sony smartphones are slated to be available in the U.S. starting on February 7th through retailers Amazon, Best Buy and B&H. The fingerprint sensor has been a nice selling point for Sony in other markets, so it is not clear why they would remove the technology from devices to be sold in the U.S.
In addition to the information provided by a Sony representative, Sony has removed all references to the fingerprint sensor and related technologies from the product page for the Xperia Z5 on the U.S. web site. However, on the same site the fingerprint sensor is still listed in the specs for the Xperia Z5 Compact, although that could be an oversight and a change is in the air for that product page as well.
Consistent with other information coming out of the Sony camp, there still does not appear to be any plan to bring the Xperia Z5 Premium to the U.S. market. There was also no word on whether the pink version of the Xperia Z5 will be offered in the U.S. market.
source: Xperia Blog
Seems to be an unusual decision given the popularity of mobile payments in the US. Given the expected price point of these devices, there are better options already available. Aside from die-hard fans of the Xperia Z series devices, I don’t see sales being that great.