Reasons Why a Sony 12-Inch Xperia Tablet Might Be Successful

People love big screened tablets. Or that’s what device makers want to believe. Microsoft has the Surface Pro 3 and Samsung has the Galaxy NotePRO and TabPRO bunch, while Apple is said to be prepping the iPad Pro.

All these tablets have a few things in common; they have large 12-inch screens. and are targeted at the professional crowd. But is there room for more big-screen slates on the market? Sony seems to believe this is the case, as sources inside the Taiwanese supply chain claim the PlayStation maker is looking to launch a 12-inch tablet of its own in Q1 2015. But industry watchers are quite ambivalent whether or not large tablets are destined to succeed in the market and with fierce competition coming from Microsoft, Samsung and Apple, does Sony’s large Xperia tab have a chance of survival? It could and here’s why.

The Sony Tablet might have a 4K panel

So far there aren’t a lot of 4K tablets on the market. Panasonic has a huge 20-inch one, but apart from that consumer-friendly devices with such an advanced resolution have failed to appear. However back in 2013 a report came in saying the unified forces behind Japan Display (Sony, Toshiba, Hitachi) announced they have managed to squeeze a 4K resolution (3840 x 2160) panel into a 12.1-inch TFT module, creating a screen with an amazing 365ppi. The panel was put on display at the FPD International 2013 exhibition in Japan, where it was revealed it was highly power efficient and quite thin too. Since then, we haven’t heard much about the technology, but if the rumors are true and Sony is prepping a 12-inch tablet, then it’s quite plausible to speculate the product will arrive with a 4K panel, which will place it above the competition.

People are starting to look at tablets as worthy laptop replacements

A good example is the Surface 3 Pro which is offered with a keyboard companion and a stylus. The tablet also has good internal configuration, so demanding professionals can experience a decent workflow. Since the tablet runs Windows 8.1 out of the box, owners will be able to access all the apps they need to be productive. During its recent earning call, Microsoft said that Surface Pro 3 sales are doing great, but it didn’t specify exactly how many units were sold to this date. But Windows devices are traditionally believed to be more work-oriented than Android one.

The Sony Xperia 12.1-inch tablet is more likely to run Android. Which type of Android we don’t know, but given the fact that the tablet will launch next year we can guess it’s going to be Android 5.0 Lollipop. The OS has been designed to be more seamless and more secure, which is definitely something important if you’re going to work with the tablet. Another feature that will appeal to business users is better multitasking across apps and across devices. The OS also features Android Smart Lock, a security feat that lets users unlock the tablet with a smartwatch. And since Sony just launched its SmartWatch 3 with Android Wear you see where this is headed.

Bottom line is that an Android tablet might prove to just as productive as a Windows 8.1 tablets in some scenarios. Especially if Sony throws in an optional (or not) keyboard companion and a stylus (which is mentioned in the report)

Sony’s 12-inch tablet could be super-thin

Sony is known for putting out some of the world’s thinnest tablets. Before the iPad Air 2 and Dell Venue 8 7000 were released, the company held the world’s record in tablet skinniness with the Xperia Z2 Tablet which was only 0.25 inches / 6.4 mm in profile. If Sony could manage and maintain that anorexic frame, it would certainly prove a major selling point especially for business users looking to get productive on the go. But if we’re to stick to the previous theory which includes a 4K panel in the mix, Sony might not be able to take things to very extreme levels. Still we can hope the company will surprise us, as it has done so many times in the past. To compare the Samsung Galaxy NotePRO is 8 mm / 0.31 inches while the Surface Pro 3 is 9.1 mm / 0.35 inches, so if Sony could manage to keep things below 8 mm it would be great.

Sony Xperia 12-inch tablet anyone?
Image credits to GSMArena

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