By Patrick Avenell
Sony Australia is placing a lot of faith in its upcoming products featuring the new Windows 8 operating system from Microsoft.
While in the past Sony has liked to stand alone as a premium and desirable brand, in the lead-up to Christmas, there will be a strong focus on Sony’s partnership with Microsoft.
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While these two companies compete against each other in some categories, most notably console gaming, when it comes to PCs and tablets, in the ongoing battle against Apple, it’s a case of ‘my enemy’s enemy is my friend’.
“When Windows 8 launches at the end of October, we’re really comfortable that we’ll have a point of difference product,” said Sony Australia GM, consumer key accounts, Jeremy Senior. “We’re working really closely with key retail partners on how we bring to Windows 8 to light in store, and how we align our line-up behind that. We’ve got one chance to make a big splash.”
In addition to its range of Vaio-branded notebooks and Ultrabooks, Sony also a 20-inch tablet and a convertible table/Ultrabook due for imminent release.
“What we need to now do is lock away those brands with our key retail partners and make sure that, come launch day, the product is well-presented in stores,” continued Senior.
“We can drive consumers in there to experience it, and we can take advantage of the hype that’s going to be created by Microsoft’s investment, along with our investment behind our brand, and really optimise that window at the beginning of the product lifecycle.”
Sony's new Tablet S has a cover to convert it into a sort-of laptop computer.