Is Microsoft still in a buying mood after announcing a deal Monday to acquire Nokia"s smartphone business? That"s the possibility that has been brought up in a new Bloomberg article, which claims that Microsoft could be interested in buying troubled mobile phone maker BlackBerry.
The article claims, via unnamed sources, that Microsoft "is keeping an eye" on BlackBerry for a possible deal. The Canadian company announced a few weeks ago it was looking at "strategic alternatives," which may include selling all or part of its business. Bloomberg"s sources claim that there is still a large enterprise market for BlackBerry devices that could draw Microsoft"s interest as it seeks to expand its smartphone business.
BlackBerry tried its best to relaunch itself in 2013, even going so far as to change its name from its previous title, Research in Motion. However, the launch of BlackBerry"s new phones like the Z10, using its BlackBerry 10 OS, have been a sales failure, which helped Microsoft"s Windows Phone, lead by Nokia"s Lumia devices, to overtake BlackBerry as the third most popular smartphone OS worldwide.
If a Microsoft-BlackBerry deal is made, it"s possible it could be similar to Nokia"s arrangement in that Microsoft buys out the hardware business from BlackBerry, while allowing the company to keep its BBM messaging service. Such a deal still likely remains extremely unlikely, however, though it"s no surprise Microsoft would monitor BlackBerry"s status.
Source: Bloomberg