We’re hearing from multiple sources that Research In Motion plans to announce its first strategic BlackBerry partnership tomorrow. RIM employees have been notified they will be briefed internally tomorrow, but likely after a public announcement. If the rumors hold weight, who could RIM be partnering with?So far we’ve been hearing three top contenders: Apple, Google, and Facebook. Although, we’re not sure why exactly, it is just mere speculation going around RIM employees in Waterloo. Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see if the announcement is regarding any sale or lease for parts of RIM.We previously reported that RIM had hired bankers to “weigh strategic options”. Additionally, it has also been rumored many times that there are some tech companies who have been interested in purchasing RIM. Business Insider has compiled a list of 11 companies they feel could be interested in purchasing RIM:Samsung, HTC, LG, Motorola (Google), or Nokia: All of these smartphone makers are struggling for dominance in a fragmented market with low profit margins. In markets with low profit margins, especially “platform†markets like smartphones, market-share is a competitive advantage. All of these companies might look at RIM’s meaningful but dwindling share of the global smartphone market and conclude that it made sense to own.Microsoft: Microsoft is about to throw a Hail Mary pass in the mobile market in the form of the new Windows Phone 7. Microsoft is nowhere in mobile. Owning RIM would not give Microsoft a commanding position in the market, by any means, but it would put it somewhere in the market. Also, RIM is strong in the enterprise, which is where Microsoft is strong. The combination of Microsoft and RIM might be able to argue persuasively that they’re a better choice for corporations than Apple or Android.Facebook. Go ahead and laugh. Facebook’s working on its own Facebook phone. It needs this because Apple and Google currently control the gateways with which hundreds of millions (soon to be billions) of Internet users will access Facebook. Facebook is also about to have a market capitalization of ~$100 billion. Facebook might conclude that RIM’s expertise and distribution would be nice things to own.Amazon. Amazon already makes its own tabletâ€"the Kindle Fire. Lots of people think Amazon will soon make its own smartphones. Amazon doesn’t care about building the state-of-the-art tablets. It just wants to make affordable tablets and smartphones aimed at the mass consumer market, gadgets that consumers can use to buy stuff from Amazon. Like any other acquirer, Amazon might want to blow up RIM’s proprietary platform and replace it with Android or Windows, but RIM’s gadget expertise and distribution expertise might be helpful.Dell, HP, Acer, and other PC manufacturers who are getting absolutely clobbered because they’re not making hit smartphones and tablets. All of these companies might view RIM as a way of leap-frogging into these businesses.Intel. Intel has announced that it is going to make smartphones (in fact, it has already made some). Intel has pots and pots of cash and is hunting around for things to spend it on. We thinkIntel would be nuts to go into the making-smartphones-and-tablets business, but Intel apparently doesn’t think so. So Intel might also buy RIM.Who do you think RIM will be partnering with? Sound off in the comments and let us know why. Keep it locked to N4BB as we’ll keep you updated on the news!
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
RIM to Announce Strategic BlackBerry Partnership Tomorrow(April,2012)