Tuesday 16 October 2012

Sony Xperia S Tablet Not Made For India


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The sales of the tablets have been reportedly halted due to some defects found lagging in the devices. 

Sony is known for a lot of things in India, be its Xperia smartphones, Vaio laptops or even the Bravia LCD TV range for that matter. As far as Sony's tablets, commonly referred to as the Xperia tablets, are concerned, they have hardly managed to create a space in the competitive tablets segment in the country.

We spoke to Kenichiro Hibi, managing director, Sony India, and when asked for his opinion on the overall tablet segment plans for Sony in India, he said, “ Sony's range of tablets in the country is not targeting the entry-level segment and more inclined towards the premium-end segment.” While this statement does clearly indicate the company's targeted consumer base, but we still cannot understand the lack of marketing or visibility the product has received compared to its Vaio range, Xperia smartphones and even Bravia TVs.


Earlier this month, EFYTimes had reported that Sony might be looking at bringing in its Xperia S tablet in the country as a part of its festive season product range.

When asked, why no tablet launches for the festive season in the country, Hibi informed us that “Sony has majorly focused itself in the Indian market with its range of home entertainment, IT and smartphone products and with me at the helm of Indian market, we will continue to concentrate on these segments thoroughly.”

Also there have been recent developments regarding Sony's halting sales of Xperia S tablets after water-resistant defects
and design flaws were found in those devices. Sony began selling its latest Android tablet on 7 September in the United States followed by its launch in Japan, Europe and elsewhere. So far, it has shipped around 100,000 units of the device.

The tablet market in India is fairly orchestrated by the entry-level-price-range tablets starting from Rs 7,000 up to around Rs 15,000. Micromax is said to be the front-runner amongst a lot of tablet makers like Karbonn, Zync, HCL, to name a few. The iPads and Galaxy Tabs are the most realistic competitors to Sony's tablet range in the country, which are priced starting from Rs 24,000.

We believe the company should get a head-start and start looking at ways to re-enter the tablet segment in the country, looking at how varied research experts predict huge sales numbers for the segment in India over the next couple of years.

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