jonc

I know rumours have been flying around since last year, but I heard that this may now be actually true and if so is pretty significant, you heard it here first! It makes sense, Google bought Motorola so to counter that, RIM, who have significant patents in mobile technology and who are pretty much on the ropes at the moment with their abismal 2011 annual report are prime target for a buyout.....watch this space and things are hotting up this year.

ReallyReallyGoodMeat

Microsoft to buy Nokia is more likely IMO.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Anyone else spot the obvious flaw in this statement?

boxst

Apple doesn't really need to buy RIM. Quite a lot of large corporates (including the one I work for) now allow iPhones instead of Blackberrys. The only reason to buy RIM would be for BES and the corporate world.

ReallyReallyGoodMeat

And the patents. But compared to other companies RIM is small fry surely?

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

Yes


No.1 RIM would not sell and they dont have anything of value

No.2 Apple does not need to buy them because as a competitor they are doing a damn fine job of ballsing it up themselves

No. 3 You heard it here second..I mean third

davyboy

Pretty poor copy and paste!

Markus

I can't see it happening. If Apple really wants the corporate market then they will do something about it themselves. It seems Tim Cook is a little more interested in the corporate side of things than Steve was.

I could see MS purchasing RIM, that makes more sense to me than Apple.

jonc

No I didn't copy and paste anything, ok maybe you didn't hear it first, but I was speaking to a collegue this morning who has a friend working for Apple (and no, not in a Apple store!) that they are pretty close to a done deal. It's nothing to do with competition, but buying up patents and at the moment RIM are at a knock down price.

jonc

RIM may not have a choice, with their current shareprice they are trading at near liquidation value and are ripe for a hostile take over. RIM have about 2500 patents which have been valued in the region of $3bn-$10bn.

Apple have many patents in hardware and software, but where they lack is in wireless technology patents, this is where RIM's patents could make up this shortfall.

alloy

Your friend is an insider divulging insider information, he is now a criminal.

You are encouraging others to deal on inside information, you are now a criminal.

Don't bash the bankers, bash the criminals

jonc

I haven't encouraged anyone to deal.

Devildog

It would make sense if Apple wanted to effectively kill off Blackberry.

Buy RIM, take a competitor out of the smartphone market. Don't underestimate the power of BBM in the youth market

JackClark

BBM is being killed by cross device messaging apps. Still popular but dying. SMS is taking the biggest hit.

alloy

I think Microsoft more likely to take out RIM than Apple....both have the resources and rational to support such a move though....

jonc

hodgy0_2

the patent wars are interesting

i posted on an Apple thread in computing last year re a chat I had with a good friend who is one of Europe leading patent lawyers about these patent disputes

he was working as lead council for Nokia in a dispute with Apple, when he half jokingly said that Apple admitted they have no idea how the mobile phone/wireless technology they use in the iPhone actually works - they are just bought in components and they just plug them together.

he also said that when companies go into battle and sue for patent infringements it is akin to old school naval warfare, where you never want to commit your capital ships (in this case you’re most valuable tier 1 patents) in case they get sunk by a freak occurrence (or you loose in court).

you skirmish with low value patents, and keep the tier 1 patents just over the horizon so to speak

so it would not surprise me that Apple would want to pick up the tier one patents RIM have in mobile and wireless technology for a knock down price

ReallyReallyGoodMeat

Wow, did not know that jonc

Trout

iTrader: (1)

You are a conspirator in purveying priviliged information

jonc

OK, just so we're clear, I can neither certify nor corroborate the credibility of the source of this rumour and therefore cannot I confirm nor deny the validity of what I have posted in this thread. I therefore bear no responsibility or accountability for those who choose to act on this rumour.

unfeasablylargegonads

iTrader: (3)

RIMs corporate market is already in its last throws. Corporate I work for was 100% Blackberry, now at least 80% Apple (some die hard users that like things like battery life ). Not just us either, I have commuted to London for years and seen the phases of the suits having Nokia's then Windows smart phones, then Blackberrys, now its definitely moving to mostly iPhones and on top of that quite a few people have iPads as well.

CrisPDuk

As a casual outsider who uses the train fairly regularly, I have noticed the same trends over the years.

All the staff with phones at my place are still on raspberrys, but the iphone rebellion is growing stronger.