While HTC, LG, Nokia, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson all took the time to announce exciting new phones at this year's Mobile World Congress, Motorola sat by the sidelines and didn't trot out any new handsets.Motorola has a booth at Mobile World Congress this year, but it is perhaps the smallest booth I have ever seen Motorola use. Most of it was dedicated to Motorola's Wi-Fi and LTE networking equipment. I took a quick spin around, and while some of its most recently announced phones are on display, I didn't see any new handsets.

That's a stark departure from years past.

I've been told by Motorola's press team that the company won't be using trade shows to introduce new products for the time being. This was evident at CES in January, and now MWC. Instead, Motorola would like to announce phones in between trade shows so they get more direct attention rather than be lost in the cavalcade of news generated at events such as this.

It's pretty clear that Motorola is hurting right now. For it to have such a reserved presence at one of the world's largest mobile-only trade shows demonstrates just how dire things are with Motorola. It is sending a loud message that it's got nothing going on at the moment.

Personally, I think Motorola should have done what Nokia, Sony Ericsson and others do: Make a huge splashy announcement about a new product nine months in advance.

This is Nokia's favorite tactic. Last year, Nokia announced the N96 at Mobile World Congress. The phone didn't start shipping until almost the end of the year. In November 2008, it announced the N97, which won't ship until the third quarter of 2009.

Likewise, Sony Ericsson announced the Xperia at MWC last year, and the phone didn't ship until nearly the end of the year. This year at MWC, it announced the Idou project, which won't become a reality until late in 2009.

By announcing products like this, Nokia and Sony Ericsson are at least showing the world that they are continuing to innovate.

If Motorola has anything at all in the pipes, it should have done something with them to let everyone know that the company still has a pulse.

Alas, it didn't.