RIM's big BlackBerry 10 launch event is going down in just 9 days, with devices expected to start hitting the market shortly thereafter. That doesn't mean that RIM CEO Thorsten Heins is putting an end to his strategic review of options to help improve his company's situation, though, as the exec recently told German newspaper Die Welt that he doesn't want to limit RIM's options. Those options include licensing out BlackBerry 10, which Heins has named as a possibility in the past, as well a sale of RIM's hardware production division. Heins went on to say that RIM must first focus on successfully getting BlackBerry 10 onto shelves and that the company is in no rush to make a decision about software licensing or a hardware production sale.
The past few quarters have been somewhat tough on RIM, and while that isn't totally surprising considering that the company hasn't released much in the way of new hardware or software in the run-up to BlackBerry 10's launch, that doesn't change the fact that things have been rough for the company recently. I'm sure that RIM would like to keep its business going the way that it is, which is why it plans to get BlackBerry 10 out into the world before making any major decisions. Still, a big move may be necessary for the Canadian manufacturer, and it'd definitely be interesting to see which companies would sign up to license BlackBerry 10 for use on different hardware. What do you think is in RIM's future? Do you think the company will ultimately decide to go for a software licensing deal or hardware production sale?
Via Reuters, Die Welt (Google translation)
