Microsoft eyeing RIM for buyout?
As RIM enters the fourth month of its stock slide which has seen its valuation drop from $148 to just $60, it is rumored that the borg is looking to assimilate. Given that RIM has long been married to Microsoft’s Exchange platform, snapping up RIM would be a perfect acquisition for Redmond. Analysts are even going so far as to suggest that an offer stands to purchase RIM at $50 per share if the company drops below that value.
If the maneuver is real and were to happen, Microsoft would immediately have a 38 million-strong user base. Owning the world’s single largest smartphone user base would put Microsoft in an interesting position and dash Google’s plans for (friendly?) world domination.
Noes! That RIM OS needs to stay away from Windows Mobile. *hits with newspaper* Bad OS!
Microsoft probably wouldn't change much, but what they COULD do is make the Blackberry Enterprise Server an all-in-one solution for mobile phone email needs. $$$$$+
I'm still not really sure how I feel about this. I'd like to think MS is smart enough to keep all of the RIM people onboard and let them do their own thing.
At this point I'm looking for anyone to combat Apple.
This rumour has been floating around for years, I will be curious to see if MS can actually make a real stab for RIM while the financial market is in a bad place.