Samsung in Talks to Buy BlackBerry for $7.5 Billion [Updated]

[dannyyankou]

A few years ago, I probably would've said the government would shut this down. But Blackberry is so small now that they'll probably get away with it.

 

[Noctilux.95]

A dying company buying a dead one. Sounds like a good plan

 

[Derekuda]

A few years ago, I probably would've said the government would shut this down. But Blackberry is so small now that they'll probably get away with it.

You sir are completely uninformed. Just because Blackberry is dead in America, doesn't mean it's not thriving in other countries. BBM is still the most used messaging app in the world and the most secure. It puts iMessage/facebook msg/kik/whatsapp/ (insert your crappy messenger here) ... all to shame.

 

[nutjob]

Sounds like a smart move and strategic thinking.

 

[Gusjasso]

If Apple bought those bad taste headphone and speakers that I honestly can't remember the brand name, why Samsung wouldn't buy a respectable brand with a valuable patents portfolio?

 

[Beardy man]

Blackberry patent for keyboard display?

So who owns the patent for making a soft keyboard display upper and lower case letters? I wish Apple would just pay the license. I hate the fact that the keyboard on my iOS kit always shows uppercase, whether shift is selected or not.

With their love of hard keys it probably isn't Blackberry though.

 

[zone23]

Blackberry is like "sell, Sell, SELL"... "SOLD".

 

[8767092]

Not surprised. Blackberry is hugely popular in many Asian countries, and Samsung would be wise to capitalize on that. But would this represent a shift in Samsung's direction? Will they keep the Blackberry brand alive?

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It's also about eliminating one more competitor, so consumers have fewer choices thereby increasing the chances of them choosing a Samsung product.

That one is easy. Samsung has tried to start using their own internal OS to no effect. Nobody is interested in an unknown third party OS, but Blackberry is a known quantity. Their OS and hardware are very well liked.

If Samsung were to bring Blackberry's hardware expertise and software into a company of their scale, it could be very interesting to see Blackberry Galaxy Keyboard Edition. Type on the real thing!

 

[MikePLP]

I smell desperation! Samsung phone sales must really be tanking!

 

[2457282]

I was never a blackberry fan, but required to use one for work until BYOD finally came to the rescue. Still, there was a time when the BES was the best available and still better than the Good product. I don't know how well they have kept it up, but if they have, that and the IP property could be worth a few billion. The hardware, not so much. Any if "sammy sings" pays 7 billion, then BB got about double what it is worth.

Just my thought.

 

[Peter K.]

So who owns the patent for making a soft keyboard display upper and lower case letters? I wish Apple would just pay the license. I hate the fact that the keyboard on my iOS kit always shows uppercase, whether shift is selected or not.

With their love of hard keys it probably isn't Blackberry though.

This has always bothered me, too, although I wasn't fully conscious of it.

 

[ebouwman]

I think this is a smart business move on samsungs part.

 

[thewebb]

I came here and I'm signed into the forums? But I cannot recall registering an account on SamsungRumors.

I knew somebody would say this... if you think Samsung or Blackberry don't have any effect on Apple then you are mistaken. I for one think its important to know about a large merger such as this.

 

[MikePLP]

I hope this goes through! Then it will mean the end of iMessage as BBM takes the world by storm (pun intended), and we will see the iPhone's downfall which will finally get Apple off their thrown and force them to innovate like they once did before Jobs died.

You forgot to include /s

 

[temna]

Samsung can be in talks to buy Blackberry until they are blue in the face, will not happen. The Canadian government will not allow the sale of Blackberry to ANY non-Canadian company. Period. End of Story. Ask Lenovo.

 

[Bubba Satori]

hahahahaha... Now we know what **** hitting the fan actually looks like ###

That would be Apple buying Beats.

This deal looks like a smart one.

 

[MikePLP]

You sir are completely uninformed. Just because Blackberry is dead in America, doesn't mean it's not thriving in other countries. BBM is still the most used messaging app in the world and the most secure. It puts iMessage/facebook msg/kik/whatsapp/ (insert your crappy messenger here) ... all to shame.

Most used messaging app? Uhh....no. It's whatsapp. BBM is not even in top 10.

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That would be Apple buying Beats.

This deal looks like a smart one.

Beats makes tons of profit, BB doesn't. Who's the smart one again? LOL.

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I came here and I'm signed into the forums? But I cannot recall registering an account on SamsungRumors.

Considering that there are lots of Samsung trolls on this board, why not Samsung news?

 

[lazard]

Samsung can be in talks to buy Blackberry until they are blue in the face, will not happen. The Canadian government will not allow the sale of Blackberry to ANY non-Canadian company. Period. End of Story. Ask Lenovo.

More like the Canadian government didn't want to sell to a Chinese company. If the board approves, I don't see the gov't vetoing a sale to Samsung.

 

[Serban]

Tomorrow Samsung will try to buy Apple for 10 billion $

 

[jamezr]

Wow, didn't see that one coming. Looks like the IP portfolio is a bit more attractive the some people thought - or Samsung things it can leverage it.

Maybe a BB OS on Samsung phones? I think BB made a profit from their enterprise services so that might be a plus. Maybe replace KIES with something from BB? Then there is BBM that is a winner for them.

 

[jm001]

Well so long Waterloo, ON. It was a good run for awhile there.

 

[69Mustang]

Hmm, we all know how well that Google acquisition of Motorola turned out. I guess we shall see if Samsung knows something that all of the rest of us don't.

AFAIK that acquisition turned out pretty good for Google. They got what they wanted from that purchase; a patent portfolio. Depending on who you ask, Google ended up paying approx $2 billion, essentially for Motorola's patents. If you value those patents at Google's $5.5 assessment, they basically broke even.

Samsung can be in talks to buy Blackberry until they are blue in the face, will not happen. The Canadian government will not allow the sale of Blackberry to ANY non-Canadian company. Period. End of Story. Ask Lenovo.

Rumor has it the US Gov't threw a world class fit at the idea of a Chinese company owning Blackberry. Not sure how they feel about Samsung, but I'm pretty sure the good ole US of A will weigh in on any sale of Blackberry. How much that influence means, I have no idea.

 

[xmichaelp]

I came here and I'm signed into the forums? But I cannot recall registering an account on SamsungRumors.

Well if you came here to samsungrumors on your own you should have no problem reading an article about them.

 

[kcirtap00]

I hope this goes through! Then it will mean the end of iMessage as BBM takes the world by storm (pun intended), and we will see the iPhone's downfall which will finally get Apple off their thrown and force them to innovate like they once did before Jobs died.

You're serious aren't you? That's really sad. Why would anybody want to use BBM when iMessage exists?

 

[Amadeo]

They're going to buy them for the patents, incorporate them into their own Samsung phones, and shut down Blackberry. It may take a few years. But I promise you, that's the road they're taking.