Sony Will Double Marketing Budget for a 20% Gain

Sony SNE will reportedly double its marketing budget in Taiwan to obtain a significant portion of the nation's mobile phone market. According to DigiTimes, the Xperia Z (Sony Mobile's flagship smartphone) has sold more than 50,000 units in less than 30 days in Taiwan. The company hopes that it can continue its sales streak and become the country's second most popular handset maker. To pull this off -- and acquire 20 percent of the market -- Sony is prepared to increase its marketing budget by 100 percent "while strengthening partnerships with distribution channels." Sony is also developing two entry-level/mid-range smartphones that it hopes will allow it to turn the tide: the Xperia L and Xperia SP. The former comes with a 4.3-inch display with 854x480 pixels, an 8MP camera, Android 4.1 and a 1GHz Qualcomm QCOM dual-core processor. The Xperia SP is essentially a better version of that phone, shipping with a 4.6-inch display (with 1280x720 pixels) and a 1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor. The company's mobile push does not end with new smartphones. In January Sony unveiled a new wireless mobile speaker. Sony recently asked consumers to come up with a new name for the $69.99, generic-sounding item. The round, orb-like shape is very reminiscent of Google's GOOG Nexus Q, an ill-fated streaming music device that retailed for $399. Sony will also launch a new tablet in the second quarter. Tablet S, one of the company's previous devices, met Sony's own sales expectations. The company did not detail what those expectations were, however, nor did it say how many units were sold. In addition to Sony's mobile initiative, the Japanese tech giant is also investing heavily in the development of its fourth game console. First introduced on February 20, PlayStation 4 is due for release before the end of the year. Louis Bedigian is the Senior Tech Analyst and Features Writer of Benzinga. You can reach him at 248-636-1322 or louis@benzingapro.com. Follow him @LouisBedigianBZ