Prices for both the Sony Xperia 1 III and Xperia 5 III have appeared on a US retailer site. While it's possible these might just be placeholders, the amounts chosen seem reasonable and arguably even cheap compared to what many expected would be the price tags for the Xperia 1 III and Xperia 5 III.
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Surprising-Sony-Xperia-1-III-and-Xperia-5-III-prices-appear-on-US-retailer-site.544004.0.html
These are almost literally last year's prices. Wouldn't call it surprising exactly
The dollar has weakened (or other currencies have strangthened) so event hough the USD amount is higher, it's going to be quite a bit cheaper in the UK and Australia etc than it was last year.
If true, this would be backstabbing its Chinese fans. And they'll be likely to remember because those still buying Sony smartphones are unlikely to be as gullible as regular consumers.