Print this page
Published in Mobiles

Could RIM be looking to sell to Samsung?

by on18 January 2012



The company is exploring all its options


While things have been bad for Blackberry makers Research In Motion, this has not stopped the company from looking at all of its options to reverse the course the company has been on these days.

Apparently, among some of the options it is considering is to license its software to other vendors for use on their devices. These discussions have being going on for some time; but our sources tell us that they have yet to bear much fruit, but they are still talking.

Beyond licensing deals, RIM is also looking at the sale of divisions within the company or perhaps the sale or merger of the entire company with another. The company that seems to keep bubbling to the surface as a possible fit is none other than Samsung. With RIM’s technology, Samsung could really differentiate itself from its competitors, and with the BlackBerry technology it would gain a significant foothold into the corporate IT enterprise space which certainly appeals to Samsung.

Of course, no one at Samsung or RIM is going to tell us what (if anything) might be going on, but those sources we have spoken with seem to think that licensing deals would be preferable to an out and out sale, as RIM might not be as far gone as some might think. With some licensing deals RIM could get moving in the right direction to turn things around.

Apparently, the biggest reason that a licensing deal has yet to be struck with any other manufacturer is that RIM is simply asking too much for a licensing deal. No one knows if the price is still in play or whether RIM is holding hard to what it thinks the per unit licensing price is worth.

Things could be interesting for RIM over the next couple of weeks, but in the meantime RIM has to execute on its strategy or at some point face the wrath of angry investors.

You can read more here.

Rate this item
(0 votes)