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Sony unveils two new tablets to rival iPad
Japanese firm wants to become second largest tablet player in 12 months
Sony has become the latest company to try and muscle in on the booming tablet PC market after it announced that it is to launch two new devices designed to rival Apple's iPad. Both tablets – named the S1 and S2 – will use Google's Android 3.0 operating system.
The move is the Japanese electronics maker's first foray into what is fast becoming a crowded market. However, it could also be a lucrative one - research firm Gartner predicts tablet PC sales will quadruple over the next four years, with sales approaching 300 million units.
"We offer what is uniquely Sony," said the company's deputy president Kunimasa Suzuki in Tokyo as the company unveiled the two designs. The S1 has a 9.4 inch display screen and bears a resemblence to the iPad. The S2 has a more innovative two-screen design and can be folded in half like a book.
Sony's tablets will face stiff competition. Since Apple launched its iPad last March, the likes of Samsung, Motorla and HTC have entered the fray. Samsung's Galaxy and the Motorola Xoom are already available and the HTC Flyer launches next month. Nonetheless, Sony has set itself the target of becoming the second largest player in the market within 12 months.
Analysts, meanwhile, are sceptical about Sony's chances of reaching second spot. "They don't have the starting advantage," Frost & Sullivan's Manoj Menon told the BBC. "It is going to become an increasingly crowded market place and given the players, it is a fairly ambitious goal."
It has not yet been revealed how much Sony's tablets will cost, or when they will be available for purchase. ·
