According to a recent Digitimes article, the China-based Commercial Times is reporting Compal may be forced to delay upcoming shipments of smartphones to Palm. The source states:
Shipments of Palm’s two smartphones will be delayed as Compal is waiting for Qualcomm’s new chipset solutions that will enable better performance, said the paper.
Such a vague statement is bound to get the rumor mill churning at light speed as people interpret one of the smartphones to mean “Palm Pre”. Good news for Pre fans as this rumor can be debunked before it even gets off the ground. While it is true that Palm has been rumored to have placed a large order for several models of smartphones from Compal, these handsets are supposedly Windows Mobile smartphones — not the WebOS-powered Palm Pre. In fact, the Pre, according to an earlier Digitimes article, is expected to be assembled by Chi Mei, a small Taiwan-based manufacturer known for assembling Motorola handsets. Further debunking the “Pre delay” rumor, the Pre is expected to contain a Ti OMAP processor and not a Qualcomm processor which is the source of the rumored delay. So, Pre fans, dry those eyes and consider the Palm Pre to still be on track for a 1H 2009 release.
