Despite the fact that the rumor mill has churned out reports claiming that RIM may have considered selling itself to another firm, it's now being reported that the BlackBerry manufacturer has no plans to put itself up for sale. Sources speaking to Bloomberg claim that RIM is considering hiring two banks, one Candian and one global, to weigh its strategic options, but one of the tipsters claims that RIM doesn't want to sell itself. So what might the company do? A source says that RIM would like to license out its BlackBerry software but may also be interested in a strategic investment. Another option for RIM could be selling off some of its patents, with Bloomberg alleging that Microsoft and Samsung could be interested in taking part in such a deal.
CEO Thorsten Heins said during RIM's most recent earnings call that the next few quarters could be tough for the manufacturer, especially considering that the first BlackBerry 10 phones aren't expected until later this year, so it's not a surprise to hear that RIM may be interested in weighing its options. It remains unclear whether or not we'll ever actually see RIM license the BlackBerry OS to another company, but CEO Thorsten Heins has mentioned in the past that doing so is certainly a possibility. Any of you think that some company will step up and reach an agreement with RIM on licensing the BlackBerry software?
