14 DAY TRIAL // Sony appears to be taking steps towards discontinuing its Windows-based VAIO line of tablet convertibles.
Back in February it was rumored that Sony was considering selling its famous VAIO PC brand to Lenovo, in the hopes the world’s number one notebook vendor will manage to save the line from succumbing to the pressures of the market.
Sony has denied the information, but since then we haven’t heard anything else related to the matter. Until now when the guys over a TabTech have noticed something interesting.
Apparently, Sony has stopped selling VAIO laptops and tablets running Windows 8 out of the box. A visit to the official Sony German website shows the new VAIO Flip 11A tablet with foldable design is still available, but the link to the normal online store is no longer accessible.
On top of that, in Sony’s Outlet Store some of the products are sold with important discounts, but the majority, especially the models with better configurations are not unavailable. The situation regarding VAIO products seems to be similar in Netherlands.
A quick research in the US webstore shows us VAIO products are still available for purchase at their regular rates.
But the disappearance of VAIO models in Europe could be signaling something. Is Sony readying to cease production of VAIO models, while trying to quickly sell the products remaining in stock?
A wave of discounts applied on the VAIO products was noticed recently, coming from Sony itself, so the company might be trying to subtly tell us something?
Sony’s future might lie with smartphones and tablets running the Android operating system, a future that shuns Windows 8 away. For example, the company just launched its latest flagship slate model, the Xperia Z2 Tablet, which runs Android 4.4 KitKat out of the box.
The news is quite sad, especially since Sony has barely introduced its latest VAIO Flip 11A model back at CES 2014. The 2-in-1 machine came with a 11-inch IPS screen and boasted a competent full HD resolution (1920 x 1080).
Sony offered a choice between a 2.1GHz Pentium N3520 CPU fitted with 4GB of RAM and 128GB SSD and up to Intel Core i7 in the processor department.
The convertible was launched with Windows 8 out of the box and Sony included a copy of Adobe Photoshop Elements to sweeten the deal. And while this offer might be still available for US customers, their European counterparts are being deprived completely.
For the time being, if you are based in Europe and are looking for a Sony slate, you could be checking out the impressive new Xperia Z2 Tablet which made it to the continent not so long ago.