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Forums - Microsoft Discussion - Microsoft may be buying Blackberry for 7 billion dollars

 

Is Microsoft buying Blackberry a good idea?

Yes. 23 19.33%
 
No. 42 35.29%
 
Maybe? 6 5.04%
 
I don't know. 5 4.20%
 
I don't care. 22 18.49%
 
What's a blackberry? 6 5.04%
 
Isn't Blackberry bankrupt? 15 12.61%
 
Total:119
super6646 on 26 May 2015
Ruler said:
super6646 said:

Its official, Microsoft is on a spending spree. After buying Nokia for 7 billion dollars in April, Microsoft is now interested in buying Blackberry for 7 billion, according to numerous sources. Here is just one article;

If Nokia's acquisition is any indication, Microsoft will leave no stone unturned in taking over BlackBerry. Rumour has it that an acquisition of BlackBerry is possible, while media reports suggest an official announcement will be made in the days to come. There is no concrete evidence that BlackBerry has hit rock bottom and needs help from another tech giant to usher into the mainstream, but ailing sales of its handsets paint a clear picture.

Besides Microsoft, a couple of other tech companies from China have shown keen interest in BlackBerry such as Huawei, Lenovo and Xiaomi. But a recent report from Digitimes suggests that Microsoft's chances of acquiring BlackBerry are higher than any of its Chinese competitions, mainly due to stringent scrutiny of regulatory authorisation in the US and Europe.

According to another report from Malaysian Digest, Microsoft is reportedly making a $7 billion offer to take over BlackBerry. If the question rises about Microsoft's interest in the Canadian tech giant, the answer is pretty simple. BlackBerry's interesting patent portfolio of Internet of Vehicles, mobile platform and communications division grabs a quick attention, Mobiletor reports.

BlackBerry has long been trying to turn the tables in the smartphone business but has largely failed. The company's recent handsets such as Passport, Classic and Leap have failed to make a lasting impression in the high-end smartphone market, which is dominated by Samsung and Apple. In trying to focus on what it does best, BlackBerry pushed out its BBM software from its own OS to other platforms. Of late, the tech giant has been directing immense focus into enterprise services than consumer sales.

 

If BlackBerry has actually come to think over its position in the market as a standalone firm, CEO John Chen's forward-looking thinking is not working in the best possible ways. BlackBerry also announced layoffs in its mobile division but failed to confirm how many employees will be affected by Saturday's decision.

"As a result, we have made the decision to consolidate our device software, hardware and applications business, impacting a number of employees around the world. We know that our employees have worked hard on behalf of our company and we are grateful for their commitment and contributions," BlackBerry said in the statement, according to Softpedia.

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Now here is my take on this. With Nokia, I knew Microsoft was just trying to get them to keep making WP's. It was a desperate choice by then bald overweight CEO Steve Ballmer. This time however, I really think Microsoft has less interest in their handsets, and more in the secruity software. Blackberry has lots of security patients, and it also carries loads of informaiton, going all the way to the Barack Obama and Anela Merkel and many other world leaders. Blackberry is also in over 50 million cars, including all Ford cars going forward. Having Blackberry under their belt gives a new revenue source. So what do you think? Is it a good idea, or is it bound to be another flop? Leave your comments below, and I'll see you soon!

Sources: http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/05/25/rumor-microsoft-interested-in-acquiring-blackberry

http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/is-microsoft-about-to-buy-blackberry--1294712

http://www.fool.ca/2015/05/20/could-microsoft-corporation-acquire-blackberry-ltd/

http://www.ibtimes.co.in/after-nokia-microsoft-eyes-blackberry-7-billion-bid-report-633571

Why youre actually happy that MS a US american company buys the last Canadian IT company? Arent you canadian? i think the canadian goverment shouldnt allow that to happen but they will do nothing like the didnt do anything when AMD bought ATI? 

I never said I was happy. I just said it was a good idea. Anyway Blackberry is very much so doomed. Its continually selling worse than estimate's, and really I give this thing 5 years at best before full bankruptcy. The patents within the company are woth something, so getting those could be nice. Fact is, its not 2007 when Blackberry was actually the largest company in Canada (had a market cap of something like 83 billion). Now days, its not even close (6.8 billion, but then again thats Canadian dollars too, and back in 2007, it was much higher). So I think its better off being bought off, and try to minimize job losses within Canada.



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Arkaign on 26 May 2015

I do enterprise IT support for corporate law and health care. BlackBerry is deader than dead and has been for ages. It had inertia from zero competition back in the day. There was no secret to their success, it merged a phone with a mobile email client and a tiny full alpha keyboard. It supported email accounts hosted on MS exchange servers. That was it. Palm and even early Windows phones were half baked and clunky by comparison for the 99% text+call+email duties that BB excelled at. But that all changed with iPhone and Android. They left BB in the dust pretty quickly, and even for strictly business use (like serving as secure email clients for MS exchange access) BB was obsoleted fast. It was by comparison total hell getting a BB added for a new lawyer along with the garbage BB Sync stuff, whereas an iphone or android could be set up in seconds and do a better job of it. On topic, this buy is certainly just a treasure trove of patents and IP.