BlackBerry 3G Phone on AT&T Faces Delay?

Reports have Research in Motion delaying the launch of its much-anticipated 3G BlackBerry phone on AT&T from June to as late as August.

A report in Fortune is confirming industry scuttlebutt that Canada’s Research In Motion will be delaying the introduction of its much-anticipated 3G Blackberry phone on AT&T’s wireless network. The phone—commonly dubbed “Meteor”—was tentatively scheduled to reach buyers in June. Fortune says August is a more likely date, apparently because AT&T has concerns over call quality with the phone.

Neither company would comment on the reports.

RIM is widely known to be developing a 3G phone using HSDPA 3G mobile technology, deployed both on AT&T’s U.S. network as well widely throughout Europe. AT&T CFO Rick Lindner referred to the phone earlier this week while discussing the company’s quarterly financial results, indicating the company was “just starting” to see a 3G BlackBerry.

A delay introducing a 3G BlackBerry could be a bad short-term development for RIM, since demand for current BlackBerry models (including consumer-friendly units like the Pearl and Curve) is beginning to slack. A delay introducing a new 3G BlackBerry could lead to fewer hardware sales an an impact on expected earnings for the next quarter.

Industry reports also have RIM developing a touch-screen, 3G-capable BlackBerry designed to compete directly with Apple’s iPhone, slated for launch before the end of 2008.