Home › News › Industry News
Rumor: Research In Motion pushing for sale to Samsung
Update: Samsung has gone on record to say they have not considered acquiring RIM and are not interested in buying the BlackBerry maker.
Research in Motion has reportedly been looking at the possibility of licensing their software to companies such Samsung and HTC. None of the aforementioned firms is officially commenting on the rumors, of course, but according to trusted sources cited by Boy Genius Report, RIM is most likely leaning toward a partial or even full sale of the company, with co-CEO Jim Balsillie "going hard after Samsung" as a possible suitor.
It's not clear if the South Korean electronics giant would even be interested in such a deal, but if an acquisition goes through, RIM's 75 million BlackBerry users would vault Samsung way past Nokia to become the top mobile phone manufacturer in the world. That's a big if, however. According to the report, RIM is still actively meeting with anyone that could be interested in a buyout but everyone has balked at the $12-$15 billion asking price.
Back in December, it was reported that the Canadian firm had turned down takeover overtures from Amazon.com and other potential buyers -- which could have included Microsoft and Nokia -- because its current situation would significantly impact suitor's offers. Back then the company supposedly said an outright sale or joint venture was not on the cards, only licensing deals or other types of commercial partnerships.
RIM's market value has dropped significantly in the last 12 months to about $7 billion following a series of disappointing quarterly reports, delayed phone launches, weak PlayBook tablet sales and a major fault in October that caused millions of BlackBerry users to lose service -- among other things.
Related Products from Product Finder
RIM BlackBerry PlayBook
The BlackBerry PlayBook features a 7-inch display with 1024 x 600 pixel resolution. The sides of the PlayBook are coated with a soft-touch rubber that has a quality feel and provides some grip. The PlayBook is a svelte 10mm (0.4 in) thick and weighs just under a pound, at 425g (0.9 lb). A 3.5mm headphone jack is present as well, on the bottom of the tablet are three ports: micro-HDMI, micro-USB, and a three pin accessory dock connector. The PlayBook can be activated by swiping from one side to another, without using the power button.
AT&T BlackBerry 9700 Bold
Read expert reviews, pros/cons and product information about AT&T BlackBerry 9700 Bold. There are 91 reviews available so far.
RIM Blackberry 9860 Torch
Read expert reviews, pros/cons and product information about RIM Blackberry 9860 Torch. There are 40 reviews available so far.
User Comments (12)
Post a comment|
Darth Shiv
on January 17, 2012 4:19 PM |
They are on a downward spiral for a reason. The opposition is better. Why would Samsung want to buy out RIM? Apart from maybe hardware manufacturing capabilities... their software is worthless. |
|
Guest
on January 17, 2012 5:37 PM |
3 letters: BBM If Samsung had BBM in their phones, game over everyone else. That's the main reason to get one and why Blackberry phones are so popular here in Canada. If they licensed that out to or was bought by Samsung, that would just destroy everyone else. Plus, get a hefty patent increase vs apple's douchebaggery |
|
Burty117
on January 17, 2012 6:01 PM |
I disagree, BBM isn't worth a mention since instant messengers are becoming more popular, multi-platform WhatsApp or Apples iMessage are proof other providers can do instant messaging and do it just as well if not better. If I was samsung I wouldn't bother at all, BBM isn't worth $12 billion, hell Samsung could make their own instant messenger with that money and probably make it better... |
|
Guest
on January 17, 2012 6:53 PM |
RIM should just sell for a cheap price now before BlackBerry devices achieve lower market share than they already do now. It was a good run, even though I never, or would never, own a BlackBerry device. |
|
Guest
on January 17, 2012 7:19 PM |
blackberry has already made it's image in the world with bbm -- even though apple has created the imessanger people it's hasn't caught up with usage in terms of bbm. bbm is more widely known than imessenger. |
|
princeton
on January 17, 2012 7:54 PM |
Nope.avi. [link] A new report from Reuters says that Samsung is not interested in purchasing RIM. Samsung spokesman James Chung said “We haven't considered acquiring the firm and are not interested in (buying RIM)”. RIM's stock increased just over 8% on the news today, but unfortunately after hours trading is down over 3%. |
|
hahahanoobs
on January 17, 2012 8:49 PM |
iMessage is almost like BBM. Remember, BBM uses a seperate "Blackberry pin" to give to contacts. Similar to a throwaway number rather than giving your actual phone number. And it's encrypted, unlike WhatsApp. BBM is huge overseas. Think terrorists etc. |
|
Julio Franco
on January 17, 2012 9:46 PM |
Rumors are rumors, but I agree with everyone else... Samsung buying RIM would be a complete waste only comparable to HP's Palm takeover, and we know how that ended. |
|
Warzone
on January 17, 2012 10:44 PM |
Samsung released a statement, they have no interest in buying them out...this caused a stock drop apparently also of RIM. |
|
Archean
on January 17, 2012 11:07 PM |
I think atm probably Google may be the best proposition for RIM (although I don't think Google would want to buy RIM as well), as Google need to get their hands on more patents, whereas, for the rest there is not much value in buying RIM. |
|
Guest
on January 18, 2012 3:09 AM |
Blackberry is still popular among corporate users and outside of Western Europe and North America. The plebs on the street aren't using it, doesn't mean it's inferior. |
|
Darth Shiv
on January 18, 2012 5:09 PM |
Guest said: Blackberry is still popular among corporate users and outside of Western Europe and North America. The plebs on the street aren't using it, doesn't mean it's inferior. Only a matter of time now til it's dead. Our company is transitioning off Nokia and Blackberry for corporate use as Android now has the majority of the required app support. E.g. SalesForce and so on. |
Most Popular
| Trending | Featured |
-
iOS 5.1.1 untethered jailbreak tool released, supports 4S, iPad 3
-
After five days, Facebook ranks as worst IPO flop of the decade
-
Rumor: AMD "Piledriver" FX CPU production to begin Q3 2012
-
Is Apple's USB wall adapter really worth $29?
-
Google warns users infected with DNSChanger malware, provides help
Editors' Monitor Picks
Subscribe to TechSpot
Get free exclusive content, learn about new features and tech breaking news.
