Samsung: demand for Windows Phone 7 'specialised'

Samsung is to focus on Android and Bada for its smartphones after claiming there is no demand for Symbian phones and only "specialised" demand for Windows Phone 7.

Speaking to Reuters, Y H Lee, the marketing chief at Samsung's mobile phone division, said Samsung will introduce a Windows handset later this year to tap into the "professional, specialised demand" the company is seeing for the platform.

Ironic, that, given Microsoft's Zune-based Windows Mobile makeover is aimed at making the platform a consumer success to take on the iPhone.

Nokia's Symbian subsidiary is trying to do the same thing with its operating system - with even less success if Lee is to be believed.

"We are not seeing visible demand for Symbian," she told the newsagency.

Instead, it's going big guns for Android.

"Android is very open and flexible, and there is a consumer demand for it," Lee said.

Android will target the high end, while Samsung's own Bada OS will appear in lower-end devices - expect a host of these to be launched in the coming months, said Lee.

Samsung is also using Android for its line of media tablets, the first of which, the 7in Galaxy Tab, premiered last week. ®