Blackberry (formerly known as Research In Motion/RIM) is in trouble.
The phone company recently announced thatĀ it has formed a special committee to explore “strategic alternatives” for its itself.
They also went on to announce that they are open to alternatives thatĀ could range from “joint ventures to partnerships to a sale of its operation to another firm”
OK let’s cut the bullshit, we all know that Blackberry as we know it is done.
Dead. Over. Kaput. Finito.
The question at hand now is, is this a strategic opportunity for Microsoft to get their hands on significant amounts of intellectual capital, phone hardware and lots of really juicy enterprise accounts?
Some would say that Microsoft’s “alliance” with Nokia is a reason for not looking too closely at Blackberry but I actually disagree.
My wife uses a Blackberry for work and has an iPhone for play. She swears up and down that for responses to long work emails, there’s nothing like tactile keys.
That tactile keyboard appeal seems to me like an opportunity for Redmond to achieve phone dominance in the Enterprise. They could build on RIM’s appeal to corporate accounts and work on getting Windows Phone into the enterprise.
I have never been a Nokia fan (big bulky cameras that pretend to be phones) and I think Microsoft might be better served starting over in the phone department and acquiring a company that used to be great.
Just my opinion this glorious Tuesday.
Over to you – what do you think? Should Microsoft look at acquiring Blackberry?
Use the comments below and let us know.
hmm a hard one to call… BB messenger could be intergrated with skype to gain a bigger audience, windows already has a reasonably good email client, and you’re right about the keys, they may be small but perfect for fiddly fingers.
It seems as though when Nokia had it rough, Msft helped them out of the dirt (ever so slightly)…. so maybe they can strike lucky twice with BB.
Yeah.
Plus BB has a lot of intellectual capital that would be awesome for Redmond vaults.
I think a hybrid Windows Phone with a keyboard would be cool. It could also be a bridge to credibility for Windows Phone in the Enterprise.
I think both of what you guys are saying sounds like some wins. BB needs a way out to move to the next level, and Windows Phone with Microsoft seems to be a saving grace.
Windows phones do need more apps though.
hmm a hard one to call… BB messenger could be intergrated with skype to gain a bigger audience, windows already has a reasonably good email client, and you’re right about the keys, they may be small but perfect for fiddly fingers.
It seems as though when Nokia had it rough, Msft helped them out of the dirt (ever so slightly)…. so maybe they can strike lucky twice with BB.
Yeah.
Plus BB has a lot of intellectual capital that would be awesome for Redmond vaults.
I think a hybrid Windows Phone with a keyboard would be cool. It could also be a bridge to credibility for Windows Phone in the Enterprise.
I think both of what you guys are saying sounds like some wins. BB needs a way out to move to the next level, and Windows Phone with Microsoft seems to be a saving grace.
Windows phones do need more apps though.
Microsoft has enough on there plate already .. the products produced by Microsoft , a company of there caliber , should be 100% when entering the market for the public , but it seems lately they are releasing their products and then trying to play catch up with up dates , with todays market and the competition as it is , it’s seems they are having trouble working together as a group towards one goal .. it seems as they are in a situation by poor planning .. with all the new products hitting the market as fast as they are , Microsoft needs to pull themselves back to where the public has there confidence in them as in the past .. they have been hit with a lot of negativity lately , people see it as poor planning and guidance .. They need to get there act together and get themselves heading in one direction .. and you can’t do that by adding more confusion on top of dealing with problems at hand.
Microsoft makes a desktop OS that is used by the majority of businesses. Having them take over Blackberry and the replacing the Blackberry OS with WP8 (maybe a version called WP8 Business) actually makes sense. Remember when a lot of business people used PDAs? A lot of those PDAs used Windows CE. Now we have WP to replace it. WP on Blackberry hardware with the real mini-keyboards is a neat idea.
I think so too.
Thanks for the comment.
I was going to ask for a “WP Standard” when I remembered that a Dell WP-based phone had already a keyboard. Maybe it would be time for a hybrid qwerty/touch generation? So yes please!
I do not think that MS should acquire Blackberry. They don’t have the committed members of the Blackberry private network in the quantities it would take to make it a viable business and as dannymasincubb says, MS already has its hands full.
LOL
They certainly have their hands full. There is a school of thought that says they have to do something bold or it’s all over?
Buy BB for the patents and intellectual properties. They may be able to use some of it but that’s up to them
Maybe MS could get someone to show them how to sync with Outlook.
I’m just about ready to find my old PDA so I can keep my contacts in category folders. (or go back to Android – google)
I say go for it. What is the harm in it. They’ll probably get theam for dirt cheap. It’s worth it just for the IP. They could make at least some use out of what they get from Blackberry. It might not result in any large-scale changes at MS, but there is at least some benefit in the move.
It would be a nice move. MS could be the salvation for BB, and BB could help MS to get a stable position in the mobile market (or even a plan b). Can I dream with some hybrid (qwerty/touch) WP phones with BB touch?
Thinking about BB with Windows 8.1 and mini-keyboard with trackball for mouse control, you would have mini-desktop computer in your pocket. Then add a smart watch, which you can answer your calls or make calls without removing your phone from your pocket. Add cloud drive with your emails and contacts plus upload any photos you take. But for me, I need full size keyboard for my “FAT” finger tips, they are so big that they press two keys if I don’t watch how I do my pressing. I miss the old IBM keyboard from 1984 or Northgate keyboard. Back then the keyboard weight more than some laptops of today.
I think Microsoft should snatch up Blackberry! The company has definitely been foundering for some reason. Maybe Microsoft could take a few tips from other vendors like these.
I find that there is a certain market out there for the physical keyboard and not just for those who use them for longer email messages. Blogging from a touch screen can be a pain, those of us from an older generation which grew up on physical keyboards do gravitate towards that tactile sensation. However MS should not buy up yet another brand simply for its user base. Consumers can be super fickle when it comes to devices, if all someone wants is a physical keyboard then use a detachable cell phone case with bluetooth keyboard in conjunction with the cell phone already owned.
Perhaps if MS managed to receive a bargain price for BB that would make the move more acceptable. Maybe they could keep the brand and substantially reduce the size of their workforce focusing more on the service end of things. Since they’re also known for being THE cell phone with physical keyboard perhaps attaching their brand to a bluetooth device mentioned above could help to entice that user base over to the Windows Phone while simultaneously enticing more app developers to develop for Windows phone given an increased use of a Blackberry Windows Phone. Microsoft could have the Nokia Windows Phones for the masses, Blackberry Windows Phones for the business people, government workers, etc. Thus there are a few possibilities here tied to a decent conception of what the Windows phone market could become.
I find that there is a certain market out there for the physical keyboard and not just for those who use them for longer email messages. Blogging from a touch screen can be a pain, those of us from an older generation which grew up on physical keyboards do gravitate towards that tactile sensation. However MS should not buy up yet another brand simply for its user base. Consumers can be super fickle when it comes to devices, if all someone wants is a physical keyboard then use a detachable cell phone case with bluetooth keyboard in conjunction with the cell phone already owned.
Perhaps if MS managed to receive a bargain price for BB that would make the move more acceptable. Maybe they could keep the brand and substantially reduce the size of their workforce focusing more on the service end of things. Since they’re also known for being THE cell phone with physical keyboard perhaps attaching their brand to a bluetooth device mentioned above could help to entice that user base over to the Windows Phone while simultaneously enticing more app developers to develop for Windows phone given an increased use of a Blackberry Windows Phone. Microsoft could have the Nokia Windows Phones for the masses, Blackberry Windows Phones for the business people, government workers, etc. Thus there are a few possibilities here tied to a decent conception of what the Windows phone market could become.
Blackberry is one of those companies that, though it exists, seems to have no purpose, nor any hope of finding one, and is really dead but does not know it. The only point I can see would be to grab the IP then shut it down.
Putting WP on Blackberry devices is a bad fit because they have tiny screens and appear to make little use of touch whereas WP is definitely a touch OS. Changing the Blackberry recipe would probably just alienate those who like it (and I scratch my head trying to understand why there are people who do, because to me it is unbearable).
I can’t see that MS has anything to learn from Blackberry. But a purchase just to grab IP would be as popular as a burglary. It would also distract MS from its goals at a time when it is busy leading a style revolution and needs all the momentum it can get.
(See how many web sites, and rival OS vendors, are picking up on the classic Swiss typographic styles used in transport signage worldwide, and now in Windows and WP, and you will realise that MS is capturing mindshare: MS and mindshare in the same sentence — something people would have bet against until a year or two ago — and there are still those who don’t get it.)
Everybody I know who used to use a Crackberry now has an iPhone. MS is having enough trouble without importing more. All they would be buying is a handful of patents.
I think Microsoft would be foolish not to buy Balckberry…It is by far the most popular choice in nations like Indonesia (population of 240+ million) and other Asian nations…
why not sell it to i phone it might make there phones a heck of a lot better after all the last time there phones were given a facelift was when they first started out whereas the blackberry as tried to move with the times but could do with the style with a facelift and the guts of the i phone and you could end up with a magic phone
yohhh
Onuora, if it weren’t for their nearly billion dollar write-down recently, I’d say “what have they got to lose ā go for it!”
Maybe for everything else BB brings to the table (intellectual capital and whatever corporate client base that still exist), it would be worth doing. We’ll see.
Onuora, if it weren’t for their nearly billion dollar write-down recently, I’d say “what have they got to lose ā go for it!”
Maybe for everything else BB brings to the table (intellectual capital and whatever corporate client base that still exist), it would be worth doing. We’ll see.
I think microsoft should not buy Blackberry. Too diffrent background.
Blackberry should partner with Samsung not microsoft cos microsoft and blackberry are all in software business and all blackberry need is a well known and acceptable hardware and Samsung can has it,
In most of its history Windows Mobile had keyboards, there is still a Windows Phone 7 with a key-board (the H.T.C. Pro).
Microsoft could get Blackberry’s secure network, which is praised int he enterprize world.