Sony slashes $100 off the price of its Tablet S

The Sony Tablet S, a unique-looking 9.4" Android-based tablet, was originally priced to compete with Apple’s popular iPad and the much-lauded ASUS Transformer Prime, but the early price cut suggests sales of the device have been weaker than the company expected.

Just four months after releasing its first-ever tablet in the US, Sony has knocked off $100 from the price tag.

The Sony Tablet S, a unique-looking 9.4' Android-based tablet, was originally priced to compete with Apple's popular iPad and the much-lauded ASUS Transformer Prime, but the early price cut suggests sales of the device have been weaker than the company expected.

Sony is now selling its $499.99 16GB Tablet S for $399.99 and its $599.99 32GB Tablet S for $499.99 on its online store. The reduction comes just weeks after Sony announced it would drop $50 off the price of the tablets through the end of 2011.

Research In Motion (RIM) announced that it had almost sold out of its (previously slow-selling) PlayBook tablet in India after it dropped the price of its tablet range by approximately 50 percent.

'We are pleased to see the excitement and overwhelming response to our limited festive season offer on BlackBerry PlayBook. I believe that the 16-GB and 32-GB version of the PlayBook is completely sold out in the retail channels,' said Research In Motion managing director India Sunil Dutt.

India's The Economic Times reports that since announcing the special offer on December 28, RIM sold in excess of 12,000 units in the four days to December 31. Due to strong demand, RIM has said it will extend its offer for an additional week.

The 16GB PlayBook is on sale in India for ₹13,490 (€200 -- more than 50 percent off its usual ₹27,990 (€400) price) the 32GB version is on sale for ₹15,990 (€230) and the 64GB version for ₹24,490 (€360).