Sunday Times newspaper is reporting that RIM might be on the verge of giving up and selling off parts of or a stake in their company. The Blackberry maker is allegedly examining all options including breaking off their handset division and becoming a separate listed company.
RIM said in May that the two banks would help it evaluate options, including forging partnerships, licensing its software and “strategic business model alternatives.” Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins, who took over from co-founders Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie in January, are considering strategy changes after the company lost customers to Apple Inc.’s iPhone and devices running Google Inc.’s Android.RIM has been considered a zombie – the walking dead among tech analysts and a joke for quite a while. While the company is rich in both customers and IP, the truth is that it hasn’t been perceived as an exciting company in quite a while. IMHO, selling the handset division to Microsoft would be the smartest thing that the company could do. Time will tell. Stay tuned…]]>
Smart for RIM, not necessarily so smart for MS. Beyond the IP, RIM brings nothing to the table for anyone. Customers? The customers are tied to a dead end OS. The users of Blackberries are usually the same ones using Windows XP. They know they need to update, but they are stuck. When they do make the move, they will likely go to Windows 8 phone anyway. MS gains nothing by buying that dinosaur. Their name is not what will make Windows 8 Phone sell.