The Sony Xperia SP has leaked — at least a rendered image of it with some Chinese lettering.

Following Samsung's Galaxy S4 reveal Thursday, competing smartphone makers have stepped up their marketing for upcoming handsets. On Thursday, tech reporters were whipped into a frenzy when a single promo shot leaked, showing off the soon-to-be released Xperia SP.

It's quite likely that Sony leaked the photo itself — a tried and true marketing ploy — but nonetheless, the news proliferated wildly with oxymoronic headlines like "Is this an official render of the Xperia SP?" If it were official, you wouldn't be reporting it as a leak, nor would it be a rendering.

In addition to the leaked picture, four UK retailers listed the Xperia SP on their websites on Thursday and indicated they'd begin selling it on March 19 for £389 (about $589). While there's still no official word from Sony, the leaked picture and UK listings strongly suggest a coordinated campaign.  

After the Galaxy S4 debuted Thursday evening in all its shoddy-plastic glory, we're honestly pretty desperate for something that looks at least a little solid. Not "solid" as in Samsung's promotional materials — actually solid — as in, not plastic. So we'll forgive the SP's plastic backplate since the rest of it is made from aluminum, according to Sony.

The leaked picture doesn't actually reveal anything new. In fact, it's somewhat of a step backward. Actual photographs of the SP out in the world have already leaked to numerous websites.

The mid-range smartphone, first announced at CES 2013, is alleged to pack a 1.7GHz processor manufactured by Qualcomm and Adreno's 320 GPU. Its screen measures about 4.5-inches, slightly larger than the Xperia V. The handset is rumored to have a 1280 x 720-pixel resolution and an 8-megapixel camera that uses Sony's Exmor RS sensor.