Sony Is Halting Xperia Tablet Sales Following Manufacturing Defect [Updated]

Oh dear. Sony came out of this year’s IFA conference so well. It was a perfect return to form for a company we’ve been keen to see better things out of for a while. Now though, cracks are starting to form in the company’s core products. The Sony Xperia Tablet S — Sony’s first tablet under the Xperia banner — is being recalled due to a construction fault.

It’s not like the Xperia Tablet S catches fire or anything. Reports indicate that the issue is to do with waterproofing in the construction process.

According to Reuters the problem is with cracks in the case:

Sony Corp said it has halted sales of its Xperia tablet PCs, a month after its launch, after discovering gaps between the screen and the case that make some of the machines susceptible to water damage.

We’re still waiting on Sony’s official statement on the issue, but in the meantime, anyone with an Xperia S Tablet should probably get in touch with Sony.

Update: Here’s the official statement from Sony:

We have confirmed that some Xperia Tablet S units may not meet the splash-proof specification (IPX4 equivalent) due to a slight gap found between display panel and back cover of the product. Sony Australia will contact individual customers who have purchased the product directly to facilitate a replacement.

[Reuters]