Digitimes reports [via the Unwired View] that Sony has selected Taiwanese Original Device Manufacturer Mobinnova to produce future WinMo devices for them, dropping HTC. Mobinnova was new to our ears, but it turns out it's just a subsidiary of Foxconn, so the grand tradition of only having a half-dozen or so big WinMo manufacturers continues.

It's not uncommon for a company to bounce around their ODMs between devices (Exhibit A: Palm), but we're seriously wondering if this was really a good idea for S-E. Sure, Mobinnova might have given them a better price -- and given the price and lack of availability of the Xperia X1, it's tough to blame Sony Ericsson for looking elsewhere. On the other hand, Sony Ericsson is still pretty new at this WinMo thing, you'd think that having HTC's experience for at least another device or two would be helpful.

Tough to believe, but it's been over a year since Dell announced that they were killing off the Axim PDA line. When that happened, we noted that Dell had also hired on Ron Garriques, a former Motorola executive. That move seemed to hint that Dell was thinking about starting up a line of Windows Mobile Smartphones. Smartphones obviously make a lot more sense in today's market, as PDAs are pretty much all but dead these days.

Throw another log into that rumor fire, as Digitimes is reporting that Dell has partnered up with manufacturer Foxconn. The supposed products are to be “GPS PDAs and smartphones.”

If it's true, Dell will have its work cut out for them - competing with the likes of HTC isn't going to be easy.