Google has delayed the launches of two Android-based mobile handsets in China, the first sign that the US internet company is likely to suffer from its dispute with Beijing over hacking.

The launch of the two handsets, developed with Samsung and Motorola for China Unicom, the country's second-largest mobile operator, had been postponed, a spokeswoman for Google China said.

The move suggests that the Android-based platform - the open source mobile operating system designed by Google to allow developers from handset makers and from mobile operators to build customised handsets - is likely to feel the repercussions of the company's warning to pull out of China.

Industry analysts said Samsung's GT-i6500U and Motorola's XT701 had been scheduled to launch today. The Samsung handset would have carried Google's logo and both devices would have run Google applications, industry sources said.

The postponement came as China's foreign ministry said Google was not above China's laws, which leaves scant hope for talks that the US company has said it wants to conduct with Beijing over how its China business operates.

China Mobile, the country's leading mobile operator, China TelecomSamsung in Beijing said it was no longer clear whether the launch would take place and redirected requests for comment to China Unicom. China Unicom did not reply to requests for comment and Motorola could not immediately be reached for comment.

 source:ft