28th Apr 11
Sony takes on Apple by revealing its first tablet PC
by Harry Oldfield
Yet another tablet: Sony looking to take a bite out of Apple
Yet another tablet: Sony looking to take a bite out of Apple
Sony has announced its first raid into the tablet PC market, bringing out two new devices.
The Japanese electronics company’s deputy president Kunimasa Suzuki said that the gadgets are set to use Google’s Android operating system. Worldwide sales of the tablet PC have been thriving, led by Apple’s iPad success. Sony has said it aims to become one of the leading players in the booming market.
The iPad’s success has resulted in many consumer electronics companies, such as HTC and Samsung, launch their own brands of the tablet PC as they attempt to gain a share of the market. According to Gartner, a research firm, tablet PCs’ sales are expected to quadruple over the next four years to nearly 294m units.
Sony has hinted that its target is to become the segment’s second largest player behind Apple within the next year. However, analysts claim Sony will find it difficult to reach that target.
Frost & Sullivan’s Manoj Menon said that Sony don’t have the starting advantage. He said that the market place is going to become increasingly crowded and that given the players involved, the goal is fairly ambitious.
Analysts predict that as the tablet PC market grows over the coming years and the amount of players increase, companies will need to find their niche. Mr Menon said that companies will begin to cater for specific segments. He gave the example that Research in Motion (RIM) is a huge player in the enterprise segment, whereas Apple has taken control of the consumer market and has begun to target the enterprise sector.
Mr Menon stated that this is where the Japanese company has a unique advantage. Sony’s gadgets such as Playstation already enable users from all over the world to play games and interact with each other.
He said the fact that Sony and Ericsson have a long standing partnership could ensure that together they will play a big role over the coming years. He said that they estimate by the year 2020, 80bn gadgets will be connected to each other across the globe. He added that given Sony’s expertise in the consumer market and Ericsson’s in network operations, the pair could have a huge impact with regards to connecting the tablet sector.
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