Rollouts of upgraded mobile devices put on hold by economy

BARCELONA, SPAIN - The softness in the market for new mobile phones showed clearly Monday in a thin array of new product rollouts at the GSMA Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona -- usually a smorgasbord of eye-catching gadgets.

With the global recession making companies hold back, big device launches were thin on the ground, and anyone wanting a flurry of new products using the Android operating system developed by Google will have to wait.

"They are very conscious about the market this year. All of them they are expecting a market slowdown so there is no point to launching high-end devices and drop it after a quarter or two," said IDC market researcher Francisco Jeronimo.

Sony Ericsson announced its first full touchscreen phone with 12 megapixel camera running Symbian Foundation S60 software -- the first non-Nokia phone to launch with the platform. The phone, called the idou during the development stage, will be launched in coming months with a commercial name and brought to market in the second half of this year.

Sony Ericsson also announced the W995, a new Walkman phone, that is the first to offer all of its photographic and entertainment features in one phone.

The company was not yet prepared to announce any models with the Android operating system developed by Google, executive Steve Walker said.

Samsung also renewed its pledge to come out with an Android, but wasn't ready to preview a model.

The entire conference itself was less electrifying than in past years. Slightly fewer industry officials registered -- 49,000, down from 55,000 last year -- probably reflecting cost-cutting measures back at headquarters.

The only Android announcement came from the Chinese manufacturer Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, which intends to release a "white label" -- meaning it uses an operator's brand name -- Android phone later this year.