日本科技群雄围剿苹果iPad

    受到国外制造的智能手机和平板电脑销量一路飙升的严重刺激，日本的电子产品制造商们推出了一批高科技平板电脑，试图收复失地。他们希望借此扭转苹果（Apple）iPad一统天下的局面。

    索尼公司（Sony）将复兴大业的希望寄托在了极致轻薄防水的Xperia Z平板电脑上。与这款平板电脑同名的Xperia Z手机在市场上反响不错，索尼希望Xperia Z平板电脑也能复制成功。

    而与此同时，松下公司（Panasonic）则将其采用4K技术的平板电脑捧为明日之星。这种技术号称能用比现有高分辨率还高四倍的分辨率显示图像。这两款产品都旨在夺取平板电脑高端市场，这也是日本平板厂商希望占据的细分市场。Z的售价约为500美元。分析师称， 跟市面上其他平板相比，这个价格实在高昂，但它或许能为对手树立一种全新标准。而索尼则称，自己的Xperia Z平板是全球最纤薄、日本最轻盈的产品。

    有些人认为，Z及其家族产品或能帮索尼摆脱严重的财务困境。近期索尼财报称，它在2012年最后一个财季损失高达108亿日元。对平板电脑的需求，尤其是对苹果平板的需求已使索尼和日本硬件厂商统治全球电子产品的局面宣告终结，同时也让这些厂商出现巨额赤字。技术咨询员林信行称，索尼还在努力赶超竞争对手，尤其是iPad。他说：“日本厂商生产了太多平板，但我没看到有多少人在用。”

    错过了平板电脑这个富矿一定让日本的科技产业其特别难堪。据估计，iPad（多数都在中国组装）有20%到30%的零部件是由日本提供的。而索尼其实早在苹果之前就开始生产平板电脑了。麻烦在于，没人真正想买索尼的这些产品。而日本国内对这类电子产品的需求一贯低迷，直到iPad三年前横空出世，局面才为之一变。位于东京的出版商夏维尔•马查德称：“日本人很晚才用上平板电脑。当然，这种情况是有望改变的。”

    据市场研究公司IDC日本称，2012年日本共卖出了360万台平板电脑，而矢野经济研究所则称，这个数字接近420万台——几乎是2011年全年销量的两倍。矢野还预计，2013年这一数字将达560万台。该研究所还表示，苹果公司仍然占据着销售额的大头。林信行称：“iPad mini非常畅销，我不清楚它的累计销量是否已超过了iPad。”而IDC则称iPad mini确实已超过了iPad。他说：“在第一名身后很远的位置是Kindle Fire、Nexus 7和Kobo。可能索尼只能远远地排在第六位，然后才是东芝（Toshiba）、NEC和其他品牌。”

    日本普通的工薪族中间，多数人至今还没对平板电脑入门，因此日本这些身陷困境的科技企业认为，为商业用户开发产品才是生路所在。比如，松下推出的4K就想在特定市场中挤掉苹果，即从事创意的职场人士，如摄影师、设计师、建筑师和工程师的市场。为了和众多对手贴身肉搏，日本公司还盯准了和国外公司合作开发这条捷径。松下的这款新品就是与微软公司（Microsoft）和IBM公司合作的产物。

    林信行还表示，在平板电脑市场上，其他老牌巨头如夏普（Sharp）和东芝似乎已经完全找不着北了。用来推动其平板电脑销售的创意似乎少之又少。他说：“东芝毫无头绪可言。于是他们开足马力，推出各种尺寸的平板，看看其中哪款能够卖得火爆。但实际上没人想买东芝平板，所以我认为他们还是处于茫然的状态。他们已经不再随便生产各种尺寸的产品了，开始推出市场上主流的尺寸。而NEC和富士公司（Fujitsu）只是在随波逐流，自己也没有想明白。”

    Stung badly by soaring sales of foreign-made smartphones and tablets, Japan's electronics makers are fighting back with a bevy of hi-tech tablets they hopes will turn the tables on the dominant Apple iPad.

    Sony (SNE) is setting its hopes on the svelte, bantam-weight, waterproof Xperia Tablet Z. It aims to duplicate the success of the popular smartphone of the same name, says the firm.

    Panasonic (PC), meanwhile, is hitching its star to a tablet with so-called 4K technology that it claims displays images at four times greater resolution than existing high-definition resolutions. Both are aimed at the premium end of the tablet spectrum, where Japan tablet makers expect to find their niche. At around $500, the Z's price is steep compared to other tablets on the market but could set new standards for competitors, say analysts. Sony claims its Xperia Tablet Z is the world's slimmest tablet, and Japan's lightest.

    Some think the Z and its ilk could help pull Sony out of a vast financial hole. Recently the firm reported losses for the last quarter of 2012 of 10.8 billion yen. It has been the demand for tablets, particularly those from Apple (AAPL), that has helped to end Sony's and Japan's hardware hegemony over the world's gadgets and piled up its red ink. Sony is still struggling to catch up, says technology consultant Nobuyuki Hayashi, especially with the iPad. "Japanese manufacturers are making so many tablets … but I haven't seen anyone using them," he says.

    It must be particularly galling for Japan's tech industry to miss out on the tablet bonanza. It is estimated Japan supplies 20% to 30% of the parts for the iPad. (They are mostly assembled in China.) Sony, meanwhile, produced tablet computers long before Apple. Trouble was, nobody wanted them. Domestic demand for such gadgets was always poor until, that is, the iPad debuted here nearly 3 years ago. "Tablet adoption is very late in Japan. Of course, this is expected to change," says Tokyo-based publisher Xavier Marchand.

    According to analysts at IDC Japan, 3.6 million tablets were sold in Japan in 2012, although another estimate from Yano Research suggests figures are closer to 4.2 million -- nearly twice the number sold in 2011. Yano expects sales to reach 5.6 million for 2013. Apple still accounts for the majority of sales here it says. "The iPad mini has been doing fairly well I don't know if the cumulative has exceeded that of iPad," says Hayashi. (According to IDC it has.) "Then after a big gap come Kindle Fire, Nexus 7, and Kobo. And then, perhaps, on distant sixth place are Sony, followed by Toshiba, NEC, etc.," he says.

    Where Japan's beleaguered tech firms see their chances is in the development of products for business users, particularly in Japan where the salaryman so far remains generally nonplussed by tablets. Panasonic's new 4K offering, for example, hopes to edge out Apple in the market for creative professionals like photographers, designers, architects, and engineers. To compete, Japan Inc. is also eyeing more tie-ups with outside companies. Panasonic's new baby was created by partnering with Microsoft (MSFT) and IBM (IBM).

    Others like Sharp and Toshiba, however, seem to have lost the plot altogether when it comes to tablets says Hayashi. Ideas for kickstarting their tablet sales seem few and far between. "Toshiba had no clue. So they produced as many sized tablets as they could and see which one size would catch fire. But no one wanted to buy a Toshiba tablet, so I think they are still clueless," he says. "They've stop producing random sizes and are following the popular formats in the market. NEC and Fujitsu are just following the market trends without a clue, too."