VAIO computers are returning to US shores, with the first product built under Sony's former PC brand - the VAIO Canvas Z - scheduled to go on sale in October this year. Sony sold off the VAIO business to a Japanese investment fund in February last year, with the new owners (Japan Industrial Partners or JIP) choosing to focus initially on the domestic market. Now, the independent VAIO Corp says it wants to start selling internationally again, and has picked the United States and Brazil as the first markets to target outside of Japan.

The company's chief executive Yoshimi Ota told The Wall Street Journal that under Sony, VAIO had concentrated too much on market share over profitability. "We are not interested in cheap models for everyone," Ota told the publication, with the company planning to target users in the creative industry - like photographers and designers - who currently work on Apple computers.

VAIO's first product to be sold on its return to the US will be the VAIO Canvas Z, a "monster tablet" that comes with a detachable keyboard, an i7 processor, a 256GB SSD, and up to 16GB of onboard memory. The US price will start at $2,199, with the device going on sale in Microsoft's stores and online via VAIO's US website on October 5th.

VAIO also wants to move beyond the PC business, with ambitions to start building communication devices, wearables, factory-automation machines, and entertainment robots.