Sony suspends slate sales
Water-tight tablets open to the elements
Sony has put the brakes on shipments of its Android-based Xperia tablets, the company admitted today, after the Android slab sprung a leak.
The Xperia Tablet S, launched early in September at the IFA consumer electronics show, was said by Sony to be water resistant. However, a manufacturing flaw ensured that gaps between the screen and its surround provided a way for water to get in.
It’s not known whether the glitch was spotted during routine quality assessment tests, or by punters using their Xperias in the rain or the bath.
But Sony said it will stop selling the S until it has sorted out the error on its production lines. It did not say when that might take place.
The company said it has shipped 100,000 of the potentially leaky slates and promised to fix those already in users’ hands. According to Reuters, Sony doesn’t expect this to cost it a significant sum.
Still, it’s a blow to a company trying to establish itself as a key player in the tablet market alongside Apple, Samsung and Asus. To that end, it added the Xperia brand to its tablets this year in the hope of bringing them brand recognition as its smartphones. ®
COMMENTS
Re: HP
> At least with the desktop it sits in the computer room which is mostly an alcohol free work zone.
It Is?
Apple incident
Can you imagine if this were Apple and not Sony?
It would obviously be classed as iWatergate.
Good to see a manufacturer take some positive steps when an issue is found, rather than ignoring it, blaming the users or shrugging their shoulders and saying "What do you expect?".
Re: Apple incident
"Can you imagine if this were Apple and not Sony?"
Yeah, it would be the extra, top-of-the-line iPad model, costing $100 more for being waterproof, around $850, still sporting a lot weaker specs than the Sony.
you pays your money...
It's a rev1 product in a new line from a company that generally has a terrible reputation for admitting problems, so at least well done them for saying they'll put it right.
