Rumors of a Palm smartphone delay are coming out of China, as the Commercial Times reports that Taiwanese ODM device manufacturer Compal Communications  are being held up by Qualcomm delays.  According to the paper, shipments of two unspecified Palm smartphones will be delayed from mid-year to the end of the year.

The hold-up is from new chipsets from Qualcomm, which will reportedly bring with them better performance.  Compal has also seen orders from Motorola cut, together with a planned device axed from their line-up.

Neither Digitimes nor the Commercial Times mention the Palm Pre by name, and in fact Compal is not believed to be the ODM responsible for the smartphone.  However there have been ongoing rumors regarding Compal being contracted to manufacturer the Treo Pro, and perhaps even other Windows Mobile devices in 2009.  Finally, Palm themselves have confirmed that the Pre uses not a Qualcomm but a Texas Instruments processor, casting doubt on the supposed reason for a delay.  We’re suspicious folk here at My Pre, but right now we don’t have reason to suspect Palm’s recent reassurance that the Pre is still on course for a launch in the first-half of 2009 is anything but true.