Sony Corporation has plans of launching its new Vaio laptop in August, thus making a foray into the netbook market. It will cost around ¥60,000 ($629) in Japan.

Netbook computers are smaller and more affordable than the usual notebook computers and are optimised for basic computing work like browsing and email. Initiated by Taiwan’s Asustek in 2007, other international companies like Acer, HP, and Dell have come out with their own similar products.  

The new Vaio has been provided with Microsoft Windows XP operating system and Intel’s Atom processor. Sony’s shares dipped by 2.1% at ¥2,360, underachieving at the electrical index of Tokyo stock market, which dipped 1.3%.