Sony Mobile Communications AB and two other companies have requested ICANN to cancel their registry contracts after ditching plans to operate their dot-brand top level domain names.
.Xperia by Sony is a line of mobile phones. The company is still releasing phones under this brand but probably doesn’t need a top level domain name for it.
Portuguese communications company MEO Servicos de Comunicacoes e Multimedia, S.A. has notified ICANN it is abandoning its namesake .Meo as well as .sapo. Sapo is the name of the company’s content portal.
None of the three domains have public second level domains other than nic.”brand”
Dot-brand TLDs allow companies to have a personalized domain extension, like .sony or .brand, providing more control and branding opportunities. However, the companies in question have opted to discontinue their efforts to manage these domains. While no specific reasons were given, operating a dot-brand TLD can be costly and resource-intensive, which may have contributed to the decision.
ICANN, which oversees the management of domain names on the internet, is processing the cancellation requests. Once finalized, the domain names will no longer be active or available for registration.
This move reflects a broader trend of some companies stepping back from managing their own dot-brand TLDs, possibly due to the high costs and complexities involved. The decision highlights the challenges organizations face when balancing branding ambitions with operational realities.