Sony's very own Vaio laptop unit will soon be a rival of the mother company as the latter will join the mobile industry and introduce smartphones. This means Sony and Vaio will be competing in the same arena. The former laptop brand of the Japanese manufacturer is currently working with mobile carrier Japan Communications to offer its first smartphone in the country early in 2015. As the two brands go head to head, we'll see who is the best in making Android phones.
Sony still has a 5 percent stake in Vaio. The parent company sold majority of the Vaio shares back in July to an investment fund. This is part of Sony's efforts to restructure and rebuild its electronics business. But in a weird twist of fate, it's being challenged as Vaio recently designed a 5-inch Android phone.
The Vaio Android phone will run an app that can manage emails, and phone and video calls. No mention on who will be manufacturing the phone but it will be outsourced to several electronic manufacturing companies according to Vaio. Vaio and Japan Communications hope this will be a success especially that its pricing will be lower than Sony and other major brands. Vaio's phone won't be in the low-priced category though but it will be affordable.
The yet-to-be-named and yet-to-be-priced handset will be sold through e-commerce sites, information system developers, electronics retailers, and other sales channels of Japan Communications. Vaio may be late to join the smartphone bandwagon but the company believes it will be able to capture a percentage of the market with handsets that are affordable yet boast of superior design and impressive specs. We'll see how Vaio will fare in the mobile industry. Will it ever beat Sony? What do you think?
SOURCE: Nikkei