Sony started the year with a bang! They first announced the 4K tvs, Xperia Z, Xperia Tablet Z and then PS4, all very exciting new products.
These products will put Sony back on the map. First of, there is huge demand for the Xperia Z smartphone:
"We have seen really good pre-orders", McDougall said in an interview at the Mobile World Congress. "We had the first stocks available in Germany in Berlin at the Sony store and sold those out in two hours.
"In France, we sold more in one day in our online store than we sold in 12 weeks in mobile devices."
The Xperia smartphone, which went on sale in Japan last month and is now available in 60 countries, sells for 649 euros and is part of the Japanese electronics group's push for a greater market presence in mobile devices.
Sony has identified mobile devices, which also include Xperia tablets, as part of its efforts to overcoming problems in its television unit that contributed to a record group loss in its last fiscal year.
"It (the Xperia smartphone) sold over 150,000 units in its first week in Japan, taking a 24 percent market share straight away." McDougall said. "It may be a bit too early to say but the first signs a very positive."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/26/mobile-world-sony-xperia-idINDEE91P0AM20130226
The Tablet Z will be available from April. It looks sexy and is water resistant just like the Z smartphone, its also the thinnest and lightest 10" tablet. Best looking Android tablet yet. Great hardware and elegant design.
The PS4 will be released this year, the system is very dev friendly so it will get tons of games and ports, it already has huge 1st and 3rd party support. If priced competitively it will be off to a great start, the PlayStation brand is still very strong. Likewise for the tvs, the 4K revolution should be a new start for Sony in the tv market.
This year will mean a turnaround for the company. Kaz Hirai is doing an amazing job.
