Samsung will no longer be bringing an Android-based device to Mobile World Congress next week, and has reportedly delayed the release of its first Android smartphone to the second half of 2009. The company was originally expected to showcase at least one new device, running the open-source platform, in Barcelona, prior to a release tipped for Q2 this year.
According to Younghee Lee, head of marketing at Samsung’s mobile device division, the company is “planning internally” for a release in the second half of the year, and that Samsung is in negotiations with a number of operators interested in carrying the phone. Younghee Lee also confirmed that there would be nothing Android-based demonstrated at MWC from the company.
Samsung originally claimed that their Q2 2009 target release was the result of carriers requesting the Android handset earlier; as a result, the company’s development team scaled up to bring forward the smartphone’s availability. We’re waiting on an official comment from our sources at Samsung as to what they can tell us over the cause of the delay, and we’ll update once we hear back.
