With its stock price in the toilet following a series of disappointments this year, Research in Motion has apparently garnered the interest of several high-profile tech giants that have looked at potentially buying the BlackBerry maker.
In recent months, Microsoft Corp. and its partner Nokia Corp. "flirted with the idea of making a joint bid for" the Canadian company, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited unnamed sources familiar with the matter. However, RIM Co-CEO Jim Balsillie has indicated he wants to wait for the launch of new BlackBerry devices next year before he decides whether to engage seriously with potential buyers, the Journal reported.
RIM has faced escalating pressure from a dissident shareholder, Jaguar Financial Corp., to sell itself in whole or in parts following a rapid deterioration in the stock price and market value of the company that has suffered a number of setbacks over the last year. Some of those challenges include a days-long network outage that disrupted BlackBerry services for millions of customers, disappointing sales of its PlayBook tablet computer, and a considerable loss of market share to Apple's iPhone and smartphones that feature Google's Android software. Over the summer, RIM announced that it would cut 2,000 jobs, representing 10 percent of its global workforce.
Analysts and others have been speculating for months about a potential takeover of a company once famous for its mobile-phone innovation. But the beleaguered maker of BlackBerry smartphones and tablet computers has rejected proposals from Amazon.com and other potential buyers because the Waterloo, Ontario-based company prefers to solve its problems independently, Reuters reported. Two sources told Reuters that RIM's board of directors wants Balsillie and co-CEO Mike Lazaridis to concentrate on trying to revive the company through the introduction of new phones, better use of assets and restructuring.
"They have had approaches from folks who have wanted to have discussions," Reuters quoted a source at a Wall Street bank. "The issue is it is hard to find a value that makes sense with a falling knife."
In spite of its woes, RIM grew its worldwide BlackBerry customer base to nearly 75 million in the third fiscal quarter ending Nov. 26. In its quarterly results on Dec. 15, the company revealed its subscriber base was up 35 percent year over year.
RIM revealed at the time it doesn't anticipate rolling out its first QNX-based smartphones until the latter part of 2012. Management has been hoping that the handsets could reinvigorate interest in BlackBerry. Before the company launches the devices, "a partnership announcement is much more likely than a buyout due to the unwillingness of RIMM's management and Board to sell beforehand and the desire of any acquirer to have visability into the uptake of BB 10 handsets," Jeffries analysts wrote today in a research note.
