At an event in New York City focusing on some new Sony VAIO laptops (including new graphics designs) as well as a contest Sony was holding (“My Graphic Spash”), the Senior Vice President of Sony Information Technology Products, Mike Abary, confirmed what a lot of us have been speculating about: Sony will be entering the netbook / sub-notebook market.
He said “stay tuned” in regards to a question about Sony’s plans, and mentioned “we are letting the pioneers in the market make the mistakes. Sony has to participate because consumers are our core competency. We have to participate.â€
If you’ll recall, back at the beginning of June, there was some buzz going around over a VIA-based netbook made by Quanta Computers, that had Sony branding inside of Windows XP Home. Sony of course, already has the 4.5″ Sony VGN UX series, but it’s pricey and the niche for it is much smaller than the netbook market (it has a sliding keyboard rather than a traditional laptop design).
Read: LAPTOP Magazine Blog