Microsoft To Buy Blackberry Maker RIM?

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2177890,00.asp">http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2177890,00.asp</a><br /><br /><i>"Research in Motion moved higher on Aug. 30 on renewed market speculation that Microsoft could be interested in buying the BlackBerry maker. "Microsoft has been mentioned as a possible buyer," said Frederic Ruffy, an analyst at options education firm Optionetics in California. "According to speculation, the software giant might be interested in RIM in response to Google's recent announcement that it is interested in making its own mobile phone operating system, which would compete with Windows Mobile," he added."</i><br /><br />Well, that certainly would be interesting. I don't find it too likely though. What do you think?

[Sven Johannsen]

e-week, huh? Usually pretty respectable. It expect something like this in the Enquirer, right next to Alien has Elvises baby. Of course starnger things have happened, but I think this is about as likely as Google using WM on their phone.

[virain]

First this is old news, more then 24 hours.
Second, it is as much thrue as MSFT buying Yahoo/
Third someone really cashed in in a stock market today :wink: Someone who've started this "news" on investment blogs

[Ed Hansberry]

First this is old news, more then 24 hours.
Thanks. I can't seem to find your email where you submitted this to us on the Submit News page.
Second, it is as much thrue as MSFT buying Yahoo/
Third someone really cashed in in a stock market today :wink: Someone who've started this "news" on investment blogs

I don't know. Stranger things have happened. :)

[rlobrecht]

I find it hard to believe. RIM is more about the hardware than it is about the service, and Microsoft has done a good job of staying away from handheld hardware. And I think they've caught up to RIM on the wireless sync side with Exchange Activesync. I just can't see any reason why MS would want to buy them.

[Brad Adrian]

I find it hard to believe...
I agree. There are better ways to get Windows Mobile onto Blackberry devices, if that's what MS were after.

[dstrauss]

I've never used a Blackberry, but comparing my friends' to my Blackjack with Exchange Activesync, I can't see a lot of advantage to BB. That being the case, why would M$oft want RIM? Just sounds too much like wishful thinking than possibility.

[applejosh]

I doubt there's much chance of it, but I don't find it a highly unlikely scenario. Buying up your biggest competitor and letting it fade away into oblivion might make good business sense.

[Mark Kenepp]

I've never used a Blackberry, but comparing my friends' to my Blackjack with Exchange Activesync, I can't see a lot of advantage to BB.

While to the end user, I think you are correct, I suspect that there is a lot going on at the back end that is vastly different between Exchange ActiveSync and Blackberry.

If this rumor were true, I would suspect that the interest MS has in RIM is in this back end technology.

[ddhsoftware]

My opinion is that it would have to be to purchase market share, as opposed to technology- can you imagine MS owning the largest rollout of a java based mobile technology?! That's almost ironic after what happened with them and Java in IE!!

I think from a consumer standpoint, it would offer no advantages, just less options and innovation across the sector.

[Silver5]

MS wants a part of the corporate mobile device market, or a bigger one, and I bet they realize that they aren't convincing many people to give up their BlackBerry to get a Windows Mobile phone. So, if you can't beat 'em, buy 'em!

Seriously though, there is no doubt the RIM has the best mobile email setup right now. WM with direct push is good, but only for ONE account, whereas I can have 10 running on the BlackBerry. Now, I certainly don't need ten, but two or three might be considered normal. How about security? MS still has catching up to do. But what they really need is some way to control the quality of devices that are being released with Windows Mobile. If the devices are not properly integrated with the software they are running thewill be prone to failures, resets, poor battery life, worthless speakerphones, spotty keyboards, and other issues that have people returning their MDAs, Dashes, Wings, 6700s, Treos, and so many others and blaming Windows Mobile. Maybe it would be a smart move by MS. Not necessarily for RIM, but it depends on how they work it out, as I'm sure there will be limitations...you know, if this is more than empty rumor.

[virain]

First this is old news, more then 24 hours.
Thanks. I can't seem to find your email where you submitted this to us on the Submit News page.
I believe NEWS is a keyword here, not RUMORS :D

[Ed Hansberry]

First this is old news, more then 24 hours.
Thanks. I can't seem to find your email where you submitted this to us on the Submit News page.
I believe NEWS is a keyword here, not RUMORS :D
so you meant to say this is an old rumor, not old news?

[virain]

First this is old news, more then 24 hours.
Thanks. I can't seem to find your email where you submitted this to us on the Submit News page.
I believe NEWS is a keyword here, not RUMORS :D
so you meant to say this is an old rumor, not old news?Once verified, yes. Either rumors or news

[Ed Hansberry]

First this is old news, more then 24 hours.
Thanks. I can't seem to find your email where you submitted this to us on the Submit News page.
I believe NEWS is a keyword here, not RUMORS :D
so you meant to say this is an old rumor, not old news?Once verified, yes. Either rumors or news
so what do you call news of a rumor? I call that news, and I still don't see where you submitted it, which you must have because you complained it took us 24 hrs to post.

[virain]

First this is old news, more then 24 hours.
Thanks. I can't seem to find your email where you submitted this to us on the Submit News page.
I believe NEWS is a keyword here, not RUMORS :D
so you meant to say this is an old rumor, not old news?Once verified, yes. Either rumors or news
so what do you call news of a rumor? I call that news, and I still don't see where you submitted it, which you must have because you complained it took us 24 hrs to post.
LOL :mrgreen: First there's no such thing as MUST for me to post news, second if I were to post news I would make sure it is news and not a rumor. If I to post something questinable I would say it's a rumor. And third, I stated a fact, not complained.
Cheers 0X

[eagle63]

Why would Microsoft buy RIM? Probably because they're getting absolutely annihilated by them in the mobile messaging market. Seriously, except for M$ headquarters, are any corporations actually using Windows Mobile messaging? I'm sure there must be, but everyone I know uses a blackberry - including the company I work for and we're a Microsoft shop that uses Exchange 2003. Everyone's heard of blackberry, no one (except us nerds) has heard of WM for email. I travel quite a bit, and aside from some Treos I don't think I've ever seen anyone viewing their email on anything other than a blackberry. Of course this is all anecdotal, but I would be stunned if M$ has even 5% marketshare in this space.

I like WM and exchange-sync, but I just don't get the impression that corporate America is buying into it. They just all go the blackberry route. Which is too bad because BB is expensive - both on the server side as well as the data plans required to use them. So... while it might seem far-fetched that they would be interested in buying RIM, at some point if you can't beat 'em.....

[inteller]

the problem is, Google is going to fill the consumer smartphone space. microsoft can't do this, and RIM can't do it either. Smartphones have become too tied to the corporate infrastructure, and people have been looking for a solution that isn't so dependent on exchange or a backend server. Google is fixing to change all of that.


This is what Microsoft/RIM gets for not responding to the "little users"