Motorola’s handset division is hurting. Badly. The company needs to turn things around in 2009 or risk becoming a pile of dust. And to do so they’ll be relying on Android, not Windows Mobile, even though Windows Mobile is releasing a new version – WinMo 6.7 – later in 2009. That being said, Motorola isn’t abandoning Windows Mobile… they’re just… abandoning it this year?

“As you know, Windows 6 series is available in 2009 and as compared to Android, we believe in 2009 Android is more competitive; more of our effort and focus in 2009 is going to Android, but in 2010 when Windows 7 will become available, we will then participate in a more focused way in Windows Mobile 7 in 2010.”

The fact is that Windows Mobile 6.5 doesn’t represent enough change and innovation to move the needle NOW. Android does. And as a result, Motorola has a NUMBER of Android handsets on the roadmap.

“Our Smartphone road map includes a variety of devices, many based on the Android operating system. Android is a flexible operating environment and has attracted thousands of developers with it as we believe we can enable differentiated user experience,” he said.

These quotes are of course from Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha, which probably doesn’t make Microsoft’s mobile division chiefs very happy. Why should HE be revealing these details about the Windows Mobile timeline that could potentially hurt the company’s outlook? I’m guessing that the WinMo timeline was mentioned accidentally or without thinking things through. This information has yet to be confirmed or denied by Microsoft.

[Via AppScout]