Rumors are flying once again about another Google Android delay. This time Barron’s Tech Trader Daily is reporting that the HTC’s Android handset, probably the first one to market, will be delayed until sometime in the first quarter of 2009. This information was apparently gleamed from “contacts” of Trip Chowdhry of Global Equities Research who told him that HTC is having troubles implementing the Android feature set on its phones and is demanding guaranteed minimum revenues from Google, indicating the company is worried about a possible lack of demand. Complicating the issue further is the abundance of other mobile operating systems in the game which already attract huge numbers of developers. This is just a rumor though; a CNET email to Google was returned with the reply “we remain on schedule to deliver the first Android-based handset this year and we’re very excited to see the momentum continuing to build behind the Android platform among carriers, handset manufacturers, developers and consumers.”
Just days ago HTC said that their Android based handset was on route to a 4th quarter release this year, so why such a change in less than a week we’re not sure, but if the latest delay rumor is true we think their might be more to the story than hardware implementation problems.
Remember way back when Google bid on some 700Mhz wireless spectrum that everyone expected Google to use to set up their own branded wireless network to push Android phones? Google ended up losing that spectrum which we think threw a giant kink in their Android release plans. The company maintains as of now that Android is 80% complete and one would think that unless they had something else up their sleeve is would be ready in just a couple of months. But what if a planned acquisition is actually the real reason Android keeps being pushed back.
Google is heavily invested with wireless carrier Sprint in WiMax, a high-speed wireless venture. But with Sprint continuing to struggle, $23 billion in debt and another brutal quarter just announced, could it be a possibility that Google is looking to outright buy the entire wireless network? Looking to clean up the books a little, Sprint announced Wednesday that the company would sell $3 billion in convertible preferred stocks. But yesterday, only a day later, they pulled the offer. Is Google somehow behind this?
It would make sense to delay Android if a Sprint acquisition is imminent. If Google waited until the purchase went through they could debut Android on their own wireless network enabling the company much more control. And if such an acquisition happened, regulatory approval would be required and it likely wouldn’t go through until later this year or early in 2009. Maybe HTC’s sudden issues are a result of implementing features that’ll require a Sprint purchase that is yet to happen.