Funny story -- we pretty much heard this
exact same rumor floating around last August, but given the current
economic situation, we're inclined to believe this one a
good bit more. A recent
Reuters report is pointing out that RIM (like practically every other company right about now) is ripe for the picking, and any outfit with a serious load of cash reserves could get themselves quite a bargain. Given that the Redmond mega-corp has shown interest before (and clearly has plenty of Greenbacks), we were particularly interested in Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek's quote: "I'm fairly certain [Microsoft] has a standing offer to buy [RIM] at $50 a share." If you'll recall, RIM's stock sat at $148 per share just four months ago, and now, it's hovering around $60. As expected, Microsoft had no comment on the report, but don't be surprised to see something go down if Wall Street keeps hemorrhaging.
[Via
Electronista]
posted October 10th 2008 9:33AM
Doesn't Apple have a lot of cash too? It would make more sense for Apple to get back into the Business world, then for Microsoft to transition to the hardware world (real hardware, not Zunes and branded mice).
Why is a smartphone considered "real hardware" but Zune and Xbox aren't? Those are genuine hardware and software platforms.
The xbox 360 is real hardware . It has a cpu, ram,hddd os,.
Get ready to add "ctrl" and "alt" keys to those keyboards.
You mean, "page up" and "page down", right?
So nobody will think that a takeover lends itself to Microsoft gaining from Blackberry experience and mature OS then? They'd be daft to scrap it and it could lead to improvements in Windows Mobile.
I do realise this is Microsoft, however. Heh.
If this were to happen, it'd be interesting to see how MS would handle RIM's physical offices. MS has long had a huge love affair with engineering grads from University of Waterloo. RIM also has a huge love for UofW grads. RIM is in Waterloo. I wonder, if RIM was bought by MS, could this result in other MS projects being geographically based in Waterloo as well?
....yes?
Another terrible rumor, that's all it is. Microsoft is more interested in search engine than anything right now. They are trying to be competitive and they are failing miserably.
They don't care about RIM, because they already have WinMo. Two different approaches to Mobile Data.
first thing they would do is slap that stupid win mo os on it
If MS buys RIM and kept the businesses separate, the BB OS would still end up completely messed up in a few years. They have the OS down pat, but with Microsoft's input in, say, 1% of the process, the BB OS would eventually be in bad shape. I don't think this sort of acquisition ever works out for the customer, as they usually end up with a worse product.
Blackberry OS for business customers rebrand as Windows Mobile Business with your choice of blackberry connect or exchange email support. Windows Mobile Seven could be a more consumer oriented producted maybe merge the danger os and it together. If play right this could be a win win for everyone.
As dodgy as RIM's stock has been lately, its not based in the US and it still builds quality products and offers a service that both wireless companies and consumers want. The US economy may be tanking (thanks mostly, one feels, to the unbridled greed of Friends of Bush and the hyperventilating media, scaring off investors internationally as well as 'Main Street') but that doesn't mean every company that exists is looking for rescue. Does that make RIM a likely takeover target for MS? I dunno.
A better solution for us all would probably be for RIM to buy out WinMob from MS and kill that off. Then MS can concentrate on building (and supporting) a stable computer OS. That solution would certainly help both Companies.
;-)
Microsoft would only buy RIM to solidify its hold on the corporate market. MS is reaching into the consumer space now and I dont think RIM would be an attractive purchase for them. It could help them eliminate BB server by integrating that directly into exchange....but why would they want to do that? If MS bought them it would be for no other reason than to get a little IP from RIM and shut the thing down so they could push WinMo.....not necessarily a bad thing since WinMo 7 is going to be pretty awesome. BBOS is crap crap crap.
Well, I guess now is as good a time as any to purchase another BlackBerry.
Why would MS waste money on RIM? Blackberry is already dead with the introduction of SCMDM. With MDM you can manage 6.1 WinMo phones regardless of carrier with a starteling degree of granularity. And it is litterally a fraction of the cost of the Blackberry solution.
http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/mobile/default.mspx
Well for a start Windows Mobile sucks ass! I have had two WinMo devices both sucked donkey balls, they were up and down more than a brides nightie, and would freeze up at the most critical moment. In short one cannot say how much WinMo sucks enough.
MS would do well to get a stable mobile OS and it seems that in the mobile space the only way this will happen is if they buy it as it seems developing it in house, is out of the question.
That's a high price to pay for just getting the Blackberry Connect! They might as well pay just the royalties! :-)
My guess is, Microsoft is covering all the bases, what with the rise of Android, the iPhone and Symbian going open-source (and thus probably becoming more attractive to a lot of developers).
And hey, imagine the Blackberry OS with Zune Integration... sounds nice....! :-)
Maybe Blackberry would start offering more Entertainment devices... Maybe we'd get the mythical 'ZunePhone"! :-)
A man can dream, can't he?
I don't think MSFT will be a buyer, seeing as how they have an OS coming up next year and so much invested in it already.
I could however see a company such as HPQ as a good fit. ipaqs aren't great sellers, and RIM would fit in with HP's corporate connections.
Oh my god... They are going down like a brick and are going to drag RIM into the abyss with them? God I hope not...
Really?
Seriously, folks, this isn't going to happen. RIM is in a very solid position moving forward, despite it's shares dropping over the last little while. Microsoft is going to have to offer a lot more than is currently viable for them, if they want any chance of winning over shareholders. Did you guys also believe the Appleberry rumor?