UPDATE: A rep from Sony Mobile stated that they “couldn’t confirm” the availability of the Xperia ZL for the Malaysian market before the showcase, which was why Malaysia wasn’t included in the list of countries announced in the original press release.

Sony Mobile has just confirmed with us that Malaysia will indeed be getting the less-premium Xperia ZL smartphone. During the regional showcase of the Xperia Z yesterday, we were told both by the PR agency and the Sony executives that Malaysia will be the only country in the Southeast Asia region to not have both the Xperia Z and ZL launched together. When asked, Matthew Lang, Sony Mobile Communications’ Vice President and Head of Southeast Asia & Oceania Customer Unit, revealed that they had “no plans” to bring the Xperia ZL to the Malaysian market.

However, we’ve just received news that Sony Mobile has backtracked on its decision, and it appears that the Xperia ZL will most likely be launched together with the Xperia Z in Q1 this year.

Sony’s Xperia ZL is the less-premium variant to the Xperia Z “superphone”. While the hardware retains the same Snapdragon S4 Pro processor and 2GB of RAM as well as the five-inch Full HD screen, the Xperia ZL loses the IP55/57 dust and water resistance rating. While it is slightly shorter than the Xperia Z, the Xperia ZL is both thicker (7.9mm vs 9.8mm) and a little bit heavier (146g vs 151g) too. However, the OmniBalance design language is also used here, despite the lack of a reflective glass back. The Xperia ZL will be available in black and white, but not the funky purple that’s available for the Xperia Z.

We have reached out to Sony Mobile’s PR for a statement, and will update the post when we receive it.