Samsung says it’s not interested in buying ailing BlackBerry-maker RIM, pouring cold water on rumours that the Canadian company was looking to sell up to the South Korean tech giant.
Samsung told Reuters, “We haven’t considered acquiring the firm,” further stating that it’s “not interested”. Ouch.
Rumours starting circulating yesterday after BGR cited sources who reckoned RIM was moving towards a sale, with Samsung a front runner in terms of companies who could be splashing the cash.
It’s also been whispered that RIM could be looking to license its software. Samsung didn’t deny that part, though that doesn’t mean it’s about to start paying for BlackBerry software.
So what does RIM have that other companies could want? Its most valuable asset is probably BlackBerry Messenger, the incredibly popular instant messaging service credited with helping co-ordinate the London riots last year.
RIM is also beavering away on BlackBerry 10, a new operating system devised to reverse the company’s fortunes. Perhaps we’ll see that licensed out to other manufacturers, resulting in crazy hybrid mobiles like the HTC Bold or the Samsung Curve S.
What do you think RIM could do to turn things around? Should Samsung try to buy it? Tell us in the comments, or on our not-for-sale Facebook wall.