Sony has unfortunately had to suspend sales of the Xperia Tablet S, due to a manufacturing defect on some units that allows water to breach its water-resistant chassis. The defect relates to a gap in the display panel. Sony Japan will soon offer a free inspection and repair service, with details to be announced on the website. Until then, Sony is asking owners to keep the tablet away from water.
We imagine this issue affects all Xperia Tablet S owners, rather than those just in Japan. However, at this stage we have not seen any official word of a recall from Sony Europe or Sony North America. Sony has sold around 100,000 of these tablets worldwide so far and doesn’t expect the recall to hit earnings. Sony hasn’t announced when sales of the Xperia Tablet S will start again, but no doubt they will be doing all they can to get it back on shelves.
Update: The Sony US support page and statement is now up.
Update 2: The Sony Europe announcement is also now live [Thanks Pat!].
