Sony targets the laptop buyer with cash to burn

By RICHARD PAMATATAU

It used to be that a portable computer was just that - a machine that did the business wherever you took it, and all that mattered was the Holy Trinity of laptops: lightness, power and battery life.

But laptops have evolved to the stage where the market and the choice of machines are increasingly splitting into high-end and everything else.

Japanese giant Sony started selling its Vaio-brand laptops - the name is an acronym for "video audio integrated operation" - in 1997 and has held the top end of the market ever since.

It does not compete on price. Instead, it is content to have a small market share of loyal and deep-pocketed supporters

It revealed its new range of Vaio computers this month in Sydney. The most striking change? The colour. Violet is out and black is in.

The violet-coloured Vaio went on sale in 1997.

Stylish and highly configured, it was not intended for the masses who bought Sony's videos and portable sound systems such as the Walkman and the Discman.

Figures from industry researcher IDC show Sony is part of the "other" sector of the NZ market in which just over 8500 computers were sold last year from a total of nearly 115,000.

Kunimasa Suzuki, a senior Sony executive overseeing the Vaio range, said the company was reaching back to its roots, which lay in making technology to enhance people's lifestyles. He was unfazed by Vaio's tiny market share.

Vaio has always given customers the opportunity to combine computing functionality with creating and sharing digital entertainment content, but a well-powered Vaio will usually have a price-tag of more than $4000. "In recent years, the traditional notebook has undergone a transformation from a standalone computing device," said Suzuki.

"Customers are looking to diminish the boundaries between their IT needs and AV desire and Sony is driving this demand with a new class of smart, compatible, easy-to-use network-connected devices that offer true convergence."

He said content of any kind - music, pictures or documents - was driving the development of computers and Vaio was being updated to take that even more into account.

"This has become even more important as we continue to move into the broadband internet era," said Suzuki.

Sony has developed a new user interface to handle a variety of files, such as music and any content from CDs and DVDs. It can be operated with a remote control, as well as with keyboard and mouse.

Aimed at entertainment enthusiasts is the Vaio A Series, which packs big-screen entertainment into a mobile package.

The A Series has a streamline design and high-resolution 15" SXGA+ LCD display with dual lamps integrated into one particular model.

A DVD+/-RW drive is included for burning files to disk.

The upgraded Click to DVD software, which allows users to create and watch DVD videos and photo slides, is also included.

At the high end is the widescreen S18 Vaio. With a new slim black and silver design and weighing less than 2kg (including the supplied battery), the machine has a 13.3" WXGA screen, a DVD-RW drive and Sony's software suite.

Just to tempt the market, Sony also showed two small computing devices - a tiny handheld computer and a small storage device.

Neither of the new machines is available outside of Japan, but Suzuki said they showed where one part of the company's thinking was going.

The computer was increasingly the centre of people's lives, so "Sony has to make it easy for them to take it round with them".

"We have 400 engineers in our research department alone looking at the Vaio technology," he said.

In New Zealand, Sony is making the Vaio computers more widely available and is selling them in Noel Leeming, Dick Smith and Farmers.

IDC researcher Liam Gunson said Sony had never seen itself as being for the masses, and its advertising and pricing reflected that.

The company had set itself apart and would have to work hard to increase its market share, although its machines were good.

The market is splitting into transportable machines, which move with the user and are plugged in on site, and portable machines that have strong battery life and offer users a lot more functions.

Gunson said price remained a strong motivator for many buyers.

HP's market development manager for commercial notebooks, Simon Molloy, said an increasing number of people were looking for high-end portable workstations and were prepared to pay what it took to get such a device.

What it takes is more than $4500 and HP, Sony, Toshiba and IBM have kit in this range.

Molloy said it was not a crowded market, and the real competition was at the low to mid end.

Home aesthetics and power were important for some buyers, Molloy said, but for others it was about value, which they saw as price.

John Milford, chief executive of Pacific Retail Group which has three retail chains selling technology, said portable computers were one of the hottest sellers, after digital cameras and home cinema.

* Richard Pamatatau attended the Vaio briefing in Sydney as a guest of Sony.