“Sony Corp said it has halted sales of its Xperia tablet PCs, a month after its launch, after discovering gaps between the screen and the case that make some of the machines susceptible to water damage,” Tim Kelly reports for Reuters.
“Sony began selling its latest Android tablet on September 7 in the United States followed by launches in Japan, Europe and elsewhere,” Kelly reports. “So far it has shipped around 100,000 of the devices. The company said it will fix any of the tablets sold and expects the cost of the recall to have no significant impact on earnings.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: It took Sony a month to stuff the channel with a whole 100,000 units? Sony’s entire concept is defective. People don’t want pretend iPads, they want real iPads. Sony learned nothing after being repeatedly run over by the iPod behemoth.
And here I thought the defect was running windows, so the Experia isn’t all that defective, but android?
Just a thought. “Sony learned nothing after being repeatedly run over by the iPod behemoth. ”
Actually the problem is that “losing face” is more important than doing it right. That is one big reason that Japan never really over powered the US in the market place. Yes Sony TV, and imported cars made a real stab at it, but if you make a mistake and cannot change for fear of losing face, you just keep making the same mistake over and over. See Sony.
China has a similar problem cause its the big party bosses that run things and admitting they made a mistake brings shame to those around them, other party bosses. so its better to hide things than get caught screwing up.
So, even with Apple to copy, it takes them time to catch up.
Just a crazy thought for a friday.
I hope you don’t think “losing face more important than doing it right” is some special Asian quirk. It might not be called that nor is it as strictly adhered to in the west, but just look at all the politicians refusing to admit mistakes or wrongdoing, or half of MDN readers saying Tim Cook shouldn’t have apologized or even admit to issues over maps.
Or how it’s rarely the one at the top who takes the fall for some scandal, usually it’s some lower-level flunky who “resigns” to save his bosses whatever embarrassment their decisions caused?
“make the same mistake and can’t change for fear of losing face…” How about Ford, GM and Chrysler, they kept making the same crappy “mistakes” (read: cost-saving measures) that caused so many quality issues that 20 years later that perception still hangs over them, even though things have objectively improved in the last few years?
Sure, “saving face” is a known issue, but don’t overstate its influence over everything there, nor imply that nothing similar happens to western society.
“just look at all the politicians refusing to admit mistakes or wrongdoing”
I’d suggest that is not the same at all. It has nothing to do with “face” and everything to do with being sociopathic, self-centered or criminal scumbags.
Saving face -> Hide defects?
This behavior is dependent upon the personality of the person and is entirely independent of culture. It can just as easily be argued that:
Saving face -> Perfectionism.
Japan did indeed kick America’s ass in many respects, including fuel efficient automobiles. It took GM 30+ years to get off the gas guzzlers and go gas efficient, leading to their tottering on the edge of bankruptcy. It is only recently that Toyota and Honda fell on their faces and fracked up out of laziness and sick affection for the Quick-And-Easy Bad Bizznizz Disease afflicting human behavior across the planet.
IOW: Yeah, that’s a crazy thought. There’s a lot more going on. I could rant all day about the problems in China: Criminal Nation.
Water damage?! What does Sony think their consumer is going to do with it? Go swimming? Take a shower?
Jump off a bridge when their friends see their tablet?
Simple: they’re drool-proofing the thing.
Who knew Sony even HAD a tablet?
This exactly! Who in the world knew Sony even had a tablet?
Hey, I just found out that Casio makes cell phones….
Sony is doing the right thing in making sure their tablets are water tight. Otherwise the tears shed from not having a real iPad might ruin them.
I think Sony is hiding something.
Think about it, recall units over a non-issue. What electronic devices are water tight? I think there is a bigger problem. I bet it’s the battery. Sony has been having chronic battery problems and I think this is just the same. Like others have pointed out, they don’t want to loose face over something they still can’t control.
And let’s remember that shipping 100,000 units doesn’t mean that 100,000 units reach the hands of end users…….I’d wager that at least 25% (likely closer to 50%) of those are sitting on the shelves of stores that sell electronic items.
James Bond should switch to Apple
Sony DCW!
Sony: Killing itself with Marketing-As-Management maladies.
(Sony) “expects the cost of the recall to have no significant impact on earnings.”
With only 100,000 made, I should think not.