Sony Corp. has slashed $100 from its Sony Tablet S in the U.S. but Australian buyers will have to wait awhile before the Tablet S will be discounted in Aussie retail stores.

Sony's 16 Gb version of the Tablet S is now selling in the U.S. for $400 from its original price of $500, while the 32 Gb version is now priced at $500 from $600. The same 16 Gb version is being sold in Australia for AUS579. In addition to the price drop, U.S. consumers will also get a free 180-day trial of Sony's Music Unlimited service, five free rentals from Sony's Video Unlimited Service and five free downloadable PlayStation games.

A Sony Australia spokeswoman said in a statement that Sony would offer price adjustments in the future for Australian buyers.

"As part of the Australian seasonal sales period, we offered a special six-day-only price for Sony Tablet ($499 for 16GB) from Boxing Day. We may consider some price adjustments in the future as we prepare to introduce the 3G version of the Sony Tablet, however nothing is confirmed at this stage," the spokeswoman said. "We still believe that Sony Tablet offers great value for its current pricing, as an all-round entertainment device."

The spokeswoman added that Sony set different prices for different markets based on a wide variety of factors. When asked about the $200 price difference between the Sony Tablet S in Australia and the U.S., the spokeswoman said that Sony Australia could not comment on why Sony U.S. chose to discount the tablet.

Sony isn't the first manufacturer to drop the price on their tablets. In a market dominated by Apple's iPad other tablets had to struggle to remain an attractive alternative to the iPad. Amazon's Kindle Fire was successful because the online retailer sold it at only $199. Other tablets have also been discounted to attract more consumers in the competitive tablet market. HP slashed the price of its defunct TouchPad to $99 in order to sell the tablet while Research in Motion's Blackberry PlayBook tablet has been selling for lower than its initial $300 price.

The Sony Tablet S has a 9.4 inch 1280x800 touchscreen with a unique design that narrows down to flatter bottom, which makes it seem like the user is holding a magazine that's been folded back. The Tablet S has front and rear cameras, an infrared emitter, 1 Gb of memory and eight hours of rated battery life. The Tablet S runs on Google's Android Honeycomb operating system.