Despite being the world’s first mobile phone maker to launch an Android-based handset, HTC still favours Microsoft's Windows Mobile.

Frédéric Tassy, Grand Fromage of HTC France and Benelux, was recently asked whether he thought 2009 will be Android’s year. And although he thinks that, yes, this will be the year Android really takes off, the executive nonetheless stressed HTC’s close ties with Windows Mobile.

“We will always have more flagship products on Windows Mobile,” Tassy told French-language website Mobinaute. “Our best selling smartphone in Europe is also the HTC Touch HD [which uses] Windows Mobile.”

He also claimed many other handset makers will announce Android handsets - but fail to deliver their offerings on time.

"I think there will be a lot of bluffing, with products that are likely to be delayed," he alleged.

Tassy claimed it was “hard to say” how many Android smartphones HTC will have launched by the end of this year. However, pictures were recently leaked online of a device widely thought to be the firm’s third Android-based device. ®