According to The Wall Street Journal, Google’s Android platform is being pushed back to late 2008 or early 2009. Google has downplayed the suggestion.

If the delay proves true it could cause problems for carriers like Sprint – which according to the Journal, may not be able to release its Android-powered phone at all this year. Other carriers may miss their target dates for 2009 releases as well.

Google has remained calm about the claims and says there is no cause for concern.

“We remain on schedule to deliver the first Android-based handset in the second half of 2008,” Google spokesperson Lauren Birnbaum said. “We’re very excited to see the momentum continuing to build behind the Android platform among carriers, handset manufacturers, developers and consumers.”

However, the Wall Street Journal says otherwise. “Focus on the fourth-quarter launch of T-Mobile’s Android phone is taking up a wealth of Google resources and may result in other companies’ late launches,” it said

This news does not come as a great surprise to the some in the mobile phone industry. Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group said, “This is [Google’s] first big platform rollout. Very few people hit their dates the first time out of the gates.”

“It’s always better to do it right the first time than to do it quickly. People remember their first impression, and their first impression has to be a good one,” he noted.

With the release of the new iPhone, any delay of Androis could cause problems for carriers relying on cutting-edge competition. Still, the two systems may not be as big of direct rivals as were often led to believe.

“The iPhone’s primary competition will be against other phones with similar form factors rather than with the keyboard-enhanced Android devices currently in development,” Enderle predicted.

“It certainly doesn’t hurt Apple that Google may be late, but the Google impact on Apple was probably going to lag behind the impact from other phone manufacturers that are already rolling out second- and third-generation phones,” he added.

Android also has issues to face in the form of carriers hesitant to give up data service control. Sprint is said to be pushing for its own individually branded services for the platform instead of the Google-based services currently being created. The Journal report suggests the company may be looking at pulling out of the Android protocol altogether to develop its own alternative.

“The operators might not want to let users utilise Google’s platform,” Tomi Rauste, president of Movial Creative Technologies said. “They might want to have their own platforms - their own services distributed.”

Companies like Movial - which recently released its own Linux-driven open source mobile platform - are hoping the hesitation can create an opening for them in the highly competitive market.

“I think it might open up possibilities for the competition, other ways to do the same stuff that Android is seeking to do,” Rauste said. “It might open up new opportunities.”

Still to be seen, though, is if the mobile market is open to the idea of open source - whether it’s from a tech giant like Google or a lower profile company like Movial. The demand, some speculate, could be there - and Google is certainly known for breaking down barriers and delivering.

“The limitation the iPhone has is the limitation that Apple’s always had: There’s only one manufacturer and a limited setup of configurations,” Enderle said “The Google platform, like the Microsoft platform, can go multiple ways.”