It’s Friday the 13th, and what’s more appropriate than some grim Research in Motion news? Rumors are swirling that the BlackBerry maker has hired investment bank Goldman Sachs to help actively shop itself to potential buyers. According to Reuters, one unidentified trader said yesterday that RIM is “up on Goldman,” but cautioned that it doesn’t mean a sale is coming anytime soon. This only further adds to growing speculation of a RIM sell, something that has been ongoing for months now. It’s been widely speculated that Amazon, Microsoft and Nokia has shown an interest in scooping up the struggling Canadian-based manufacturer, but changed their mind.
Regardless, RIM is in serious trouble, especially with recent data suggesting that 75 percent of BlackBerry owners want to switch to the competition. That said, I refuse to believe they aren’t up for sale because no one is interested in acquiring them, come on, that’s just ridiculous. Research in Motion still has a strangle-hold on the business enterprise market, and the company controls a trove of patents that’ll interest any business serious about making a footprint in mobile. It’s clear that the problem with the company is the stubbornness of CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie. The fact that shareholders and board members are allowing these two to run things into the ground is mind-boggling.
[via cnet]