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

[Nunyabinez]

How awesome to see all the MR posters here waxing eloquent about why this is good or not and flexing their analytical chops to show how much they know, and then it all turns out to be a total fabrication. I love it.

 

[Col4bin]

Just for the patents, sure why not?

 

[jw2002]

Just for the patents, sure why not?

But if they want the patents, then they should just buy the patents. Who would pay $7 billion for $1 billion worth of patents?

Also, the clock is ticking. Because patents expire they lose value over time. Eventually Blackberry will need to be liquidated. The question is whether they are willing to face reality and get a good price for the patents today or have them auctioned off at firesale prices a year or two from now.

 

[Xiroteus]

I saw the update. I was wondering if Blackberry is worth anything close to do.

 

[temna]

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.

Seriously? It simply won't happen. I don't even see the Canadian government approving the sale to an American company because that would mean they would loose control over the company. IT WILL NOT BE SOLD TO SAMSUNG, NO MATTER WHAT.

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In theory, Canada cannot prohibit BB from moving its HQ to another country. It would be stupid to move just to sell to become a piecemeal asset in name only. Samsung wants Knox to grow and BB could help Knox.

This is Canada, different rules. The Canadian government can most assuredly block the sale of Blackberry to a foreign company, and it will.

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Making billions is dying? Samsung isn't dying....

Samsung's phone business is dying. The whole company, probably not, but their phone business is not doing good.

 

[CEmajr]

With Samsung's own mobile division in profit free fall, I don't really see what they hope to accomplish with this one. Maybe just the patents?

 

[mejsric]

So their copycat is buying them now??

 

[dannyyankou]

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.

Let me correct myself. I know it's doing relatively well is a few countries. What I was saying was that if Samsung bought Blackberry a few years ago, the deal might have been shut down because of monopoly concerns. But Blackberry isn't as big as it was a few years ago, so it's probably not an issue now.

 

[jroadley]

Soon as I saw the story, two things came to mind:

1. The patents (That make sense)
2. BB share price.

 

[69650]

Don't know why Microsoft hasn't already bought Blackberry. It's the only way they're going to get any traction with their smartphones.

 

[NewbieCanada]

Samsung loves to copy Apple. Apple buys beats and now Samsung feels it has to buy someone.

Not just someone. It had to be a company that starts with a B

 

[jouster]

Simple fact, any forgein purchase has to be approved by the Canadian Governement before it will be allowed to happen. Since Samsung purchasing Blackberry means the dismantling of the company and laying off all their Canadian employees the Canadian government will deny this aquisition...

just my 2 cents.

Yes, but BB seems to be doing a pretty effective job of dismantling itself and laying its employees off.

Maybe a Samsung-owned BB is better than none at all.

 

[Bhatu]

Blackberry is known for its revolutionary keyboard. I think they should switch to main stream PC or laptop based business. The brand name is still alive but who cares

 

[SgtPepper12]

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.

Still most used? I doubt that. And security-wise it's among the worst.

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

"We don't comment on rumors or speculation, which is why we're commenting on rumors and speculation, but will not comment further"

OK?

My thoughts exactly

 

[batchtaster]

BlackBerry's policy is not to comment on rumors or speculation, so we wish to comment on these rumors and speculation, so that these rumors and speculation will not get in the way of us not commenting on rumors and speculation. We hope this clarifies these rumors and speculation.

 

[TallManNY]

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.

BBRY has $3 billion in cash right now. I doubt that $7 billion is "double what it is worth".

 

[iMeanIt]

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.

Wow - thanks for the articulate insight! Have you been a technical writer "long time?"

 

[manu chao]

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

Do you remember registering an account with iPhoneRumors.com?

 

[TallManNY]

QNX. Not many people realize that this is actually the most popular platform for the underpinnings of most of the Nav systems currently in cars and going forward where the technology is only expanding to include more than just Nav, including Apple Carplay.

It is a huge space and they have a huge market share in it.

They do have a huge market share in this as BBRY owns the QNX OS and that is what they base all their current phones off of. But QNX has that market share in part because they license the QNX OS at a very low price.

But still, people here should realize that when they are watching CarPlay in action it is often an iPhone talking to the car's computer which is running QNX as its underlying OS.

 

[johnnyturbouk]

Where are all of these people now? Ousted!

left a sinking ship with wads of cashed stuffed in their pockets

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Never liked blackberry - i explicitly remember back in 07 when i copped the G1 iphone, how i was lampooned and ridiculed by my city douche friends for refusing to buy into the 'city' blackberry madness,

 

[hleewell]

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

Samsung Mobile is not 100% Samsung. Samsung has other more lucrative arms, divisions and subsidiaries that are going to make your head spin.
Samsung Engineering did the contract to build Burj Dhubai for example.
Samsung Semiconductor is also doing well supplying components to other manufacturers including Apple. Not to mention thousands of washing machines, LED panels, refrigerators that sell very well in gigantic Asian markets. Samsung can lose that mobile arm and it is still a very profitable company.

 

[gnasher729]

Samsung Mobile is not 100% Samsung. Samsung has other more lucrative arms, divisions and subsidiaries that are going to make your head spin.
Samsung Engineering did the contract to build Burj Dhubai for example.
Samsung Semiconductor is also doing well supplying components to other manufacturers including Apple. Not to mention thousands of washing machines, LED panels, refrigerators that sell very well in gigantic Asian markets. Samsung can lose that mobile arm and it is still a very profitable company.

Samsung's other parts also had a massive drop in revenue and in profits (about 60% for the whole company, 70% for mobile). That said, "Samsung is dying" is obvious nonsense.

 

[MacBH928]

I would like to know what kind of patent that is worth $1 billion on its own without generating any profit

 

[kmil]

I think only 2 people mentioned it. But I think this is a play for QNX. Samsung needs to get into the automotive industry somehow. This is their way in.