News : Dell to introduce smartphone based on Android

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dell Inc said on Friday it will sell smartphones equipped with Google Inc's Android mobile software, as the computer maker enters a market that is growing fast but crowded with competitors.

Dell plans to sell its new Mini 3 smartphones through Claro, part of the America Movil network, and China Mobil.

Details on the phones will be announced when the devices are available in stores late in November for China Mobile and around the end of the year for Claro, it said.

A source had said in October that Dell plans to launch an Android-based smartphone in the United States on AT&T's network.

Dell's announcement on Friday did not mention when the Round Rock, Texas-based company will sell the phones in the United States.

Dell becomes the latest tech manufacturer to bet on the fast-growing market dominated by Apple Inc's iPhone and Research in Motion's BlackBerry.

Worldwide factory shipments of smartphones are expected to rise to 235.6 million units in 2010, up 27.9 percent from 184.2 million in 2009, according to iSuppli.

Dell's phone would also boost Google's fledgling mobile platform, which vies with Apple's and Microsoft's platforms.

Hapoalim Securities USA analyst Kevin Hunt said that it was tough to see how Dell could have any advantage over established phone makers using Android, including HTC Corp, Motorola Inc and Samsung Electronics.

"They could have modest success. I wouldn't see it being a big driver," Hunt said, also noting that Dell is unlikely to make much higher margins in phones than it does in computers.

(Reporting by Ritsuko Ando, Franklin Paul and Sinead Carew; Editing by Derek Caney)