Sony announces 'division two' series of VAIO laptops built by other manufacturers
By Donald Melanson 
posted April 15th 2010 4:37PM
posted April 15th 2010 4:37PM
Well, here's a bit of a surprise. In an interview with PC Pro, the deputy president of Sony's VAIO Business Group, Ryosuke Akahane, has revealed that the company will soon be effectively splitting its laptop business into two distinct groups. The first, called "division one," will continue with laptops designed and built by Sony as before, but the second, or "division two," will rely on laptops built by other manufacturers. Those behind-the-scenes changes may not be readily apparent to consumers, however, as the so-called division two laptops will still carry the VAIO name, and will apparently have the same "taste of VAIO" and "style of VAIO," with Sony naturally first approving all third-party designs. Presumably, this will also lead to some less expensive VAIO laptops, although Akahane was quick to point out that it's not following the Dell model with different brands at different price points, saying instead that a new brand is "not efficient," and that it wants to "enhance the identity of VAIO more and more."
just like Dell and Dell XPS.
They should call it KIRFaio.
@ChazClout
reaching.......
@yulebellow
I know.... :( What was I KIRFinking? :p
Just stick with Dell PCs - thats what I do.
Great value for the money.
@bob e Dells are cool and all, but if you want a powerful thin and light, like the Vaio Z, nothing Dell makes can compare. Trust me, I was in that boat, when I shopped around for a really well spec'd thin and light. My first inclination was Dell (as I've had a long line of Dell notebooks), but then I walked into a SonyStyle store, and saw that nothing Dell sells even comes close to competing.
Yeah, if you can't design and build decent stuff that people want then why bother at all? Just re-brand someone else' s stuff and all will be well, no? I mean, Gateway did it and they turned out just fine! Oh, wait ....
@truename Well, Sony did say they will still continue their own with the "division one." Division two is just a way to get more profits, aka rebadging some cheap generic laptops with Vaio logo, and sell it a a premium price.
I'm all for it if it means cheaper Vaio's with the same gorgeous hardware.
so...Sony will be selling better looking laptops at lower prices with better performance than the hodge-podge of parts they use to build Vaio line now?
great!
"Taste of VAIO?" I'm not sure what flavor that is, but it's not something I would want to taste.
@dcormier
Taste of VAIO is shrimp ramen NOM NOM
stupid idea.
Design the computer and have some other company build it. Isn't this what Apple does?
@MisterShankly Everybody does it. Dell, HP, Apple, Sony, all of their laptops are made by few Taiwan/China-based OEMs. This has been the case for ages.
'saying instead that a new brand is "not efficient," and that it wants to "enhance the identity of VAIO more and more." '
Lord knows that when im looking for a computer i always go with the one thats not efficient...
I own a vaio x and a vaio fw. In addition to a vaio lt and a vaio tp. Vaios are superbly made products. Every single one of them replaced a Dell and I am sooooo glad for the upgrade!
Quality is much much better.
The reality is that they were always division 2 the illusion is that it now reffers to itself as division 1 and 2 jokerz !
I despise Sony Vaio Laptops, over pretencious crap,
My laptop will rail those cheap pieces of CRAP !
VAIOs are complete crap. Anyone I know that's bought one has hated it. Maybe the "Division 2" ones will be better, since they're not made by sony
@TheAngryIntern
That just proves you don't know me.
@xyglyx Maybe they're better now. The last person I know that bought one was like around 2005ish. Personally I think Sony should stick to what they're good at: TV's, Stereos and game consoles.
@TheAngryIntern I love my Vaio Z man... Its the best laptop I've ever owned.
@TheAngryIntern
Love my new Vaio Z to death. Anecdotal evidence is so lame.
Do they still make the 18.4" Vaio's?
There is no such thing as Vaio, you are merely buying the same components that are rebadged, how thick are some people ?
We still live in a world where everyone needs to feel that they are special. I will tell you if I ad a dollar for everytime I serviced a Sony Vaio back in the day I would have well lots of dollars :P
The truth is I used to get loads of Vaios, always with Hard Drive problems, and the older Vaio range was completely unserviceable: You would have to take apart the whole laptop jsut to get to the Hard drive. Come on this the truth. So what if they have pampered customer support ? The components are shite !
Translation:
Division One Vaio = Uber expensive, bleeding edge, made in Japan
Division Two Vaio = Uber cheap, just bleeding, made in China
@cherryboom Apple troll. Show me a mac with the size and specs of the Vaio Z. Hell show me a wide screen 13 inch mac. Or even a Mac with BlueRay. How about a mac with HDMI out. Is there a mac with a Quad SSD in Raid configuration. How about a 13 inch powerhouse that weighs ~3lbs. There isn't a single mac notebook that can even touch one of these specs, much less all the specs of the Z. Go fondle your truly overpriced and featureless Macbook, it needs some consoling.
Vaios have exceptional build quality. The problem with some people is that they don't realize the potential of some computers and computer companies. Vaios are solid computers. I have experienced many Vaios, and they all have better than good battery life, good build quality, great customer support, and nice style. Just because Sony is making another branch doesn't mean that the Vaios are all going to be bad now-it just means that they will be open to other ideas in terms of style, etc.
@cherryboom
I love the smell of troll in the morning.
@cherryboom
Ummm... Of course they'd all fail if Microsoft pulled their licence. They'd be left without an OS. I'm really failing to see your point here.
What the hell?
So, Sony, what you're telling me is you're going to outsource the production of some laptops to 3rd party manufacturers in order to attain a cheaper price. You needed to announce this because...?
Rate down all Mac users
Vaio's already are supremely reliable. Have a long usable life. Rarely break. And are completely free of crappware.
Having a third party, license the use of the Vaio badge. So they can go on to manufacture AND DESIGN these Vaio machines. Will only strengthen an already strong brand.
And the Army of the 12 Monkeys is coming soon.
C.
After purchasing a Sony Digicam several years ago, decided to purchase a Vaio laptop -a top of the line 17 inch screened device for editing movies (this was in 2004). Big mistake -transfers via firewire were corrupted, and the included software couldn't make a movie if you tried. The Moviemaker program I was reduced to using blue screened when it wasn't making crappy movies with a blue screen theme. My iBook from 2003 was far more capable. Four thousand dollars wasted. Sony Support -nothing, just phone menu hell. Also, Sony is the graveyard of media formats (MD, Memory Stick, UMD, now Blu-Ray). Sony has too many moving parts to build what they feel is a commodity rather than an important, well crafted tool. Usually in the Mac Vs. PC argument, you get what you pay for. Not so with Sony -you overpay for what you don't get. Sony is the reason why I went running back to Apple.
Microsoft proved to IBM; "outsourcing is good".
I really don't understand the point of this. It's like a step backwards for Sony.
I could understand subsidizing with automobiles, but fucking laptops?