I don't think they are selling many. Sony first came out with that not-a-netbook netbook that features an Atom Z520 processor and super high resolution widescreen LCD panel (I think it was 8 inches). I believe this was the Vaio p. The only things it offered were looks and an extremely small form factor. Sony was slapping an $800 price tag on these things and classifying them as something other than a netbook. It had terrible battery life, the processor was not powerful enough to run Vista (which it initially came with, later models also offered Windows XP), and people were basically paying for the 1600X768 LCD panel. Well, that is obviously not doing very well so Sony decided to come out with a "true netbook" yet they charge $500 for it.
I am not sure what was going through Sony's mind whenever they slapped that price on it. Their netbook really doesn't offer anything above the competition yet they priced it at the same level as budget notebooks. The sad thing is that budget notebooks (like the one that Gateway offers, it has a dual-core AMD processor and ATI HD3000 series IGP so it can handle full 1080p videos without problems) are able to produce the same battery life as this Sony netbook (when configured with a 3-cell battery). That is just sad. So people would be better off spending their $500 towards a budget notebook as it will provide better performance and the same battery life. Sony is crazy if they think that people are going to spend $600 to get a 6-cell model.
I know someone who purchased the Sony netbook. I have them for one of my classes. I literally laughed whenever they pulled it out of their bag. I asked them why they purchased that model and they said that it was a gift. Their Dad purchased it for them at Costco (or something like that). Their Dad is a Sony nut and believes that other products are inferior. Well, it was their Dad's money that went to waste. I guess he asked his Dad for the Asus Eee PC 1005HA but that didn't go over well.
The only thing that Sony is relying on for their netbook is the Sony name. That just isn't enough to sell products anymore. The success of the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Xbox 360 are a testament to that as the PS3 continually comes in last place over here in the U.S. (until recently when Sony dropped the price but Microsoft also dropped the price of their console a week or two after that). The Sony name just isn't enough when it comes to pushing products. I really do hope that this netbook fails. Sony is actually taking steps in the right direction with their notebooks. They used to be like Apple and charge an arm and a leg for the same hardware as everyone else. Now Sony is selling a Blu-ray equipped notebook for $800. That is pretty good as a decent stand-alone Blu-ray player still goes for about $500. $300 more and you have a pretty good notebook.
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