Another Day, Another Samsung Denial Of RIM Acquisition And Licensing Rumors
Posted in: Today's Chili
Sorry RIM, it looks like yesterday’s stock bump may be all you get out of these acquisition rumors.
After a note from Jefferies analyst Peter Misek recently pointed to the possibility of Samsung licensing RIM’s nascent BlackBerry 10 platform, Reuters reported earlier today that the Korean electronics giant confirmed that it hasn’t considered either a licensing deal or a full-on buyout.
If this all sounds more than a little familiar, that’s because nearly the exact same sequence of events took place earlier this year.
BGR reported in back January that Samsung was strongly considering a RIM acquisition, though Samsung was quick to shoot that notion down. Then, in March, the two companies were said to be engaged in licensing talks, with Samsung supposedly considering a minority investment in the beleaguered Canadian company. Naturally, that deal was never heard from again.
This time, the RIM/Samsung rumblings began shortly after The Telegraph published an interview with RIM CEO Thorsten Heins in which he alluded (once again) to the possibility of licensing BlackBerry 10 to some capable handset manufacturers.
“You could think about us building a reference system, and then basically licensing that reference design, have others build the hardware around it – either it’s a BlackBerry or it’s something else being built on the BlackBerry platform,” he said. “We’re investigating this and it’s way too early to get into any details.”
While Heins doesn’t mention Samsung explicitly, The Telegraph does, noting that the next BlackBerry smartphone could be built by “Samsung or Sony.” Soon afterward, analyst Misek tried to make that connection more explicit by releasing a note to investors mentioning that the Korean electronics giant would be the company most interested in licensing BlackBerry 10.
To be fair, Samsung tying up with RIM isn’t the most outlandish notion out there — the potential deal probably wouldn’t have made as many headlines as it had if it wasn’t at least somewhat plausible. RIM would get a much-needed shot in the arm when it comes to BlackBerry hardware (from a company that has nailed the sexy, all-touch form factor no less), while Samsung could increase its role in the enterprise market as well as reducing its reliance on Google. For now though, the fabled deal looks like it will remain just that.
