Update (December 12): a teaser for Vaio's first laptop is live on Flipkart, which suggests it will be a very lightweight machine.
Laptops have become a crucial part of our life this year, acting as the hub for how most of us report to work. Aiming to get a piece of this growing pie, Vaio will be returning to the laptop segment of India with a new partnership.
About a decade ago, Vaio used to be Sony’s PC arm, till it split into an independent brand in 2014. It was one of the earliest proponents of sleek laptops with a focus on design and functionality. The breakup also brought along a new business model where it relied on regional partnerships and facilities instead of a central hub. A similar partnership is now in place for India.
Hong Kong-based Nexstgo has now acquired the licensing rights for the manufacturing, sales and marketing of Vaio laptops in India. Nexstgo already takes care of a lot of other Asian markets for Vaio with similar arrangements in place for Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and other Middle East markets.
“We at Nexstgo are thrilled to reintroduce Vaio to Indian audiences, with a wide range of finest-quality laptops in coming 3 months. The brand has previously witnessed unrivalled demand from the Indian market, and we believe that the country’s burgeoning tech-enthusiasts and young business professionals will be elated to experience Vaio’s premium solutions once again. With the launch, we aim to expand our distribution network in India and clock a phenomenal growth by 2020. We are honoured to be Vaio’s key partner, and work together with Vaio to rebuild her brand position in India”, said Alex Chung, CEO, Nexstgo Company Limited.
As for the products, the first laptop, based on AMD’s Ryzen platform, will launch in India in January. It will be a premium offering which will be “designed for the modern office”. Flipkart will be the sales partner for Vaio’s comeback. No other details were shared.
Nexstgo has a similar licensing agreement with Singapore-based laptop startup Avita for India. Since Avita primarily plays in the budget segments, we expect Vaio to focus on the premium segment with high-end machines. It remains to be seen how well it will fare in the competitive market that India is, where multiple new players such as Xiaomi and Honor have recently found success.
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