Android hype disappoints

Leading up to Congress, speculation was rife that a number of major 'Tier 1' handset manufacturers would showcase new devices based on Google's Android operating system. It turned out that only two players unveiled such products at the show, Huawei and HTC. Huawei's smartphone – looking almost identical to Apple's iPhone – was kept under wraps on the Chinese vendor's exhibition stand, but is expected to ship in Q3 via a rumoured deal with T-Mobile. HTC meanwhile made a slightly bigger splash by signing up global operator Vodafone as an exclusive partner in Europe for its new 'Magic' smartphone. These two new products, when launched, will take the total number of commercially available Google-powered handsets to just three. Such a small portfolio of products will not be enough to keep the Android hype machine ticking over for the rest of the year. To maintain momentum and achieve critical mass, it is important that some of the 'Big Five' handset players unveil their own Android-based devices. Until then Android will remain only a very minor player in the operating system space and risks failing to live up to expectation. Fortunately for Android's backers, rival operating system Symbian had a relatively quiet show in terms of product announcements. The LiMo Foundation, on the other hand, was quick to take some of the spotlight off Android; the consortium – backing mobile Linux-based operating system LiMo Platform (a direct rival to mobile Linux-based Android) – showcased nine new handsets supporting its platform, claiming that this brings the total number of commercially available handsets to 33. It announced a raft of new members (including Telefonica and Swisscom) and sparked controversy by suggesting operators are fearful of Google's high-profile platform.

(This article is part of a series of follow-ups on Mobile World Congress 2009 from the GSMA Intelligence team.)