Sony's PC implosion a lesson for Apple?

Sony Vaio Pro. If Sony's PC business can fail as miserably as it has with great designs like the Vaio Pro, it's probably more than just a Sony problem.Sony

This week Sony said its PC business is even worse off than the bleak estimates it made earlier in the year. Is there something going on here that's larger than Sony's failings?

Sony announced on Thursday that net losses will grow to a whopping $1.25 billion in its fiscal year. This is the third time Sony has cut its guidance for fiscal 2013. Once again, slumping PC sales are a major factor -- an additional 30 billion yen ($293 million) in PC-related "restructuring expenses" -- in the wake of the sale of its PC business to Japan Industrial Partners back in February.

Obviously, part of the problem is that consumers and retailers have abandoned the Vaio brand because of the high-profile exit from PCs. But the whole PC fiasco began with Sony pricing itself out of the market. And the flight away from premium consumer laptops is only accelerating.