Sony chases Apple with tablet launch

Intends to grab the No 2 spot with its S1 and S2 variants

Sony launched its first tablet computers in an ambitious attempt to grab the No 2 spot in a market dominated by Apple’s iPad and set to quadruple in four years.

The gadgets, based on Google’s Android 3.0 operating system, could be one of the Japanese company’s most important product launches since the Playstation game console made its debut in 1994.

Sony, also the inventor of the Walkman, is struggling to come up with hit products and improve profit margins as it competes with Apple, Samsung Electronics and Nintendo.

“Expectations are low that any company can present a credible challenge to Apple,” said Jay Defibaugh, director of equity research at MF Global in Tokyo.

“Sony strikes me as having a legitimate chance of combining its proprietary content and network services with an interesting form factor to attain its self-proclaimed target of being No 2 in this market.”

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab is Apple’s strongest competitor while Motorola, LG Electronics and HTC are flooding the market with tablets running Android.

Sony’s black, glossy devices, code-named S1 and S2, will be the first tablets to enable the use of PlayStation games, Kunimasa Suzuki, deputy president of the consumer products and services group, said at Tuesday’s media launch.

Sony is banking on the unusual, off-centre design of the S1 and access to first generation PlayStation games and its other networked content, to differentiate the products from the flood of tablets in the market.

The company gave no clues on the price of the new tablets, which will need to compete with the iPad2, offered at $499 and upwards depending on the model.

“It has to be the same price as the iPad or less,” said analyst Shiro Mikoshiba of Nomura Securities. “They are in the position of having to catch up with Apple, so they have to be attractive in terms of price.”

Still, price alone may not be enough. Research in Motion, which has priced the PlayBook to match the iPad, has struggled to win consumer fans since launching the device last week.

Sony’s tablets will be WiFi and 3G/4G compatible. S1 has a 9.4-inch display and a curved design that Sony said makes it easier to hold for long periods of time. The S2 has two 5.5-inch displays in a clamshell design.