Mobile phones under development by Google Inc (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and its partners face slipping delivery schedules, with the first phones not likely to arrive until late 2008, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. Google had said eight months ago that the first phones to be built under the Android partnership umbrella would come out in the second half of 2008 and commitments from various handset makers and carriers appear to support this initial commitment.

Last November, Google introduced its highly anticipated Android software system for designing mobile phone devices, in a move it promised could help the cell phone industry make the Internet work as smoothly on phones as it does on computers.

The Wall Street Journal story said the first phones were unlikely to appear until the fourth quarter, making any impact on the global mobile phone market from Android-based phones unlikely to be felt until 2009 at the earliest.

Last month, Taiwanese handset maker High Tech Computer Corp (HTC) (2498.TW: Quote, Profile, Research) said it was on track to launch the first Android cell phone by the end of 2008, ahead of rivals.

Deutsche Telekom’s (DTEGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) T-Mobile USA expects to deliver an Android-powered phone in the fourth quarter, but Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N: Quote, Profile, Research) will not be able to, a person familiar with the matter told the Journal.

Amid a down day of trading for many Internet stocks, shares of Internet leader Google edged up $2.62, or 0.5 percent, to $549.05 in Nasdaq trading on Monday.

“We remain on schedule to deliver the first Android-based handset in the second half of 2008,” Google spokesman Barry Schnitt told Reuters.

Posted by Zoov on 24 Jun 2008 07:06 am
Filed Under: Business, Sci-Tech |