Sony Corp, forecasting its first back-to-back annual losses in half a century, will start selling netbook personal computers from next month in an attempt to benefit from rising demand for the cheaper, scaled-down machines.
The computers will be sold for about ¥60,000 (US$630) in Japan and will be available under the Vaio brand in 54 countries, Satoshi Ihara, a marketing manager at Sony, told reporters at a briefing yesterday in Tokyo, where the company is based.
Sony trails Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the Taiwanese pioneer of the laptops known as netbooks, and Toshiba Corp in offering a low-cost, small-screen computer with reduced processing power, a product category set to become the fastest-growing segment of the PC industry this year.
Prices “will probably stop falling soon and our price won’t be a big hurdle,” Ihara said, declining to provide an overall sales target for the product.
The company said in May it would probably boost sales of Vaio computers to 6.2 million units in the year ending next March from 5.8 million units a year earlier.
Sony said in February it would combine Vaio computers, Walkman music players and games under Kazuo Hirai, who would focus on creating gadgets that work with each other and connect to the Internet.
“We plan to release more products for the Vaio to attract customers,” Ihara said yesterday.
Sony fell 2.3 percent to close at ¥2,355 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 0.3 percent.
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
RULES BROKEN: The MAC warned Chinese not to say anything that would be harmful to the autonomous status of Taiwan or undermine its sovereignty A Chinese couple accused of disrupting a pro-democracy event in Taipei organized by Hong Kong residents has been deported, the National Immigration Agency said in a statement yesterday afternoon. A Chinese man, surnamed Yao (姚), and his wife were escorted by immigration officials to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, where they boarded a flight to China before noon yesterday, the agency said. The agency said that it had annulled the couple’s entry permits, citing alleged contraventions of the Regulations Governing the Approval of Entry of People of the Mainland Area into the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民進入台灣地區許可辦法). The couple applied to visit a family member in
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