That's understandable. As a consumption device it would be to high of a price, but the $600 price tag for the wi-fi only model isn't going to help it much either. Of course with Sony launching so many other new devices from now to March 2012. Sony needs devices that will be selling at a profit or very close to that point right of of the gate, just to keep going as a company.

I agree... I think the time of "lets wait and see where the fish bite" approach is not going to work here since so many players want the piece of the pie.

I think with this tablet, Sony is banking on the fact that people will buy an android Xperia game phone and will want a tablet where they can enjoy this gaming content on a slightly bigger screen. Would be a sound strategy 3 years ago but these days even a business device like blackberry playbook is shipping with Need for Speed, Quake... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y49l0J6VUqk

That is true. I feel Sony might be just throwing a tablet device out to see how it does. I don't honestly forsee Sony putting to much effort into making it a "top tier PlayStation" product. I think they will port things over from the PSP, Xperia Play, NGP and PSN, but I don't think games would be developed for it and then ported to another device.

Unless Sony needs to stock up on Minis. Which is something I could see Sony really pushing, now that SCE and Google are becoming strong partners.

Yeah, it's going to be a bit of a bloodbath. It's easier to count the smartphone and PC manufacturers who aren't working on a tablet than to count the ones which are. The competition for components alone is fierce, which gives the advantage to huge buyers, like Apple, and companies who can supply themselves, like Samsung. Rumor is that Apple will buy something like $7.6 billion in components from Samsung this year, and that's just one of many suppliers.

Then once you get them built, you have to find a place to sell them. Carriers are willing to do some work here, but that drives up the price of your product, because now you have to include a 3G radio and probably a mandatory contract, along with whatever other concessions the carriers can squeeze out of you (and you're not in a good negotiating position thanks to the ten manufacturers behind you with almost identical offerings). From what I hear, electronics stores like Best Buy aren't too interested in selling non-Apple tablets right now, but I think that will change as it becomes clear how stagnant desktop and notebook PC sales will be as mobile devices keep booming.

Once you've jumped through all those hoops, you need to find a customer, and somehow convince him/her not to buy the iPad that defined the market or the marginally better Android device your competitor is launching next month.

The competition will be brutal, and the winners will become the Dells and HPs of the next 10-20 years. In other words, they'll earn slim margins on huge revenues while the software suppliers reap all the profits. What a prize. :-/

Sony can manufacture all the parts themselves if need be. But the ipad is going to be a tough competitor no matter what though.

No they can't. Sony is like most of the electronics companies these days. They design their products then have chinese manufacturing firms build them. For example, the PS3 and PSP are built in China, by Chinese firms, not Sony.

The reason Apple can get stuff so cheap is because they have a $50 billion bankroll then can whip out and buy stuff $5 billion at a time. They can also order items in the tens of million at a time. Most other companies have to finance by debt rather than cash which gives Apple a huge pricing advantage. Apple has even more cash than Microsoft now.

You sure?  Sony's got manufacturing plants all over the globe haven't they?

100% certain. It's the way the industry works now. Plain and simple, its cheaper to have stuff made in China.

Sony is looking into building a factory in China. They do have their own manfucturing plants now though anyways. Just because they don't have a factory owned or ran by them in China, doesn't mean they down have any.

sick.