“Sony’s new tablet computers failed to excite gadget reviewers and analysts who criticized the pricing and quality of the devices, underscoring the battle Sony faces regaining its consumer electronics crown,” Isabel Reynolds and Liana B. Baker report for Reuters.
“Sony Corp is already late to the game with its first tablet, which hits stores this month, more than a year and a half after Apple Inc launched the blockbuster iPad,” Reynolds and Baker report. “Reviewers and analysts highlighted a high price and features that suggested Sony would remain an also-ran rather than a leader in the tablet market. Two versions of Sony’s main tablet cost $499 and $599, the same price as two lower-end Apple iPad models.”
Advertisement: Limited Time: Students, Parents and Faculty save up to $200 on a new Mac.
Reynolds and Baker report, “A review on the Gizmodo tech blog called the tablet ‘extremely plasticky’ and said its screen scratched more easily than other tablets… Research firm Forrester put out a blog post saying Sony’s pricing ‘raises a red flag.'”
Read more in the full article here.
Research firm Forrester put out a blog post saying Sony’s pricing ‘raises a red flag.’”
Wait for a month or so and it will be a white flag.
…or a checkered flag right now because the game’s over for Sony before it even began.
If Apple really does sell 20 million iPads this quarter as has been recently reported, it really is the checkered flag for everyone else. That means they have gone from less than 10 million units the previous quarter to 20 million this quarter (astounding) and on track to easily sell 50 million units for 2011.
We will have then officially entered into the full blown iPod-style domination phase of the iPad and no one will be able to deny it.
😀 Damn straight.
Correct 110% …..
When the price drops to $149 and $99 these tablets will sell like hotcakes.
Just like the hp CrapPad did.
If you are going to spend $4-500 on a tablet.. Get an iPad. I was at bestbuy the other day when someone was returning a samsung to get an iPad 2…
HP exec #1: Like Microsoft’s XBox, selling our TouchPad as a loss leader has turned out great! We even have plans for another production run.
HP exec #2: How did Microsoft make up for the loss?
HP exec #1: They sold games to go with it.
HP exec #2: So when are we selling our games?
“How did Microsoft make up for the loss?”
Er… Windows and Office? I guess?
There is nothing wrong with the price. If the public has a perception of quality, then the price will not stop it.
If, however, the build appears cheap, then they will not.
The Tablet S doesn’t have scratch proof glass, epic fail.
Oh, how the great have fallen.
Apple has tuned buyers of “tablets” to such high expectations, not the least of which are apps that people have already seen and some have used; that competitors have to be able to high-jump a 7 foot bar.
Consumers I’ve met are tired of things that just don’t quite work “right” or have problems. Their PCs make them sick every time corruption happens. Even the average consumer understands that fixing devices takes their time and is not worth it.
Masterful work on Apple’s part.
At this point, I’m really wondering why so many companies are so eager to jump into this (imaginary) “tablet market”. It’s like they figure they have to do something, or be perceived as losing relevance. So they throw yet another me-too tablet onto the shelves (or at least into warehouses), when anyone at the company with two brain cells to rub together must know the product is doomed.
It has to be said: a significant factor in Apple’s overwhelming success the last decade has been the utter incompetence of its competition.
——RM
At least Sony is trying something a little different. The clamshell approach with smaller screens is intriguing. However, if they seem cheap or poorly made, then people won’t buy them.
And what’s with the dig at the end of the article about Sony making movies and Apple doesn’? Uh, so what? Apple still sells Sony movies on iTunes, and Sony would be utterly stupid to it’s movies from iTunes.
clamshell with small screen is not appealing, just look at netbook sales.
I’m gonna wait for the price to drop to $99
I will buy it if the price drop to $99, but not to use it. It will be preserved in its pristine condition until the time when it becomes a collector’s item, and with this its price will soar 300% of what I paid.
Not 300%, but to 30,000%
What a waste of resources by Sony. They should work on provider cool accessories for iOS. Instead they do the idiotic thing and will blow their wad.
MOPS FOR INDUSTRY NEEDS YOUR HELP NOW!
Sony’s fake iPad bloodbath is imminent! There’s not time to waste! Mops For Industry is providing collection boxes at every public school around the country. Have YOUR child collect donations from your neighborhood to help clean up this impeding river of blood! Don’t let this turn into another HP catastrophe of red ink! Give now! Help now before it’s too late!
Call 1-800-555-0000 to receive a free MFI Sony collection box for your workplace or country club. 😆
I thought that telephone number was 867-5309.