Earlier today some rumors began circulating that Research In Motion was interested in selling off to Samsung after a rough year. Now, Samsung spokesperson James Chung has told Reuters that it is not interested in taking the firm over, and that it has not been approached.
The rumors were started by Boy Genius Report, who quoted a source that said RIM was looking for a buyer in the Korean giant.
We have heard that Jim Balsillie is actively meeting with almost every company that might be interested in either a part or all of RIM, in addition to having talks about licensing. “Jim is going hard after Samsung,” said a source with knowledge of the negotiations.
The price that RIM’s CEO was asking was cited as the primary reason why a deal had not yet been struck.
Samsung spokesperson James Chung told Reuters that “We haven’t considered acquiring the firm and are not interested in (buying RIM).”
Chung also told the outlet that Samsung had not been approached by RIM to negotiate a takeover. This doesn’t eliminate all possibility that RIM is looking into selling, of course, but it does seem to put to bed the rumors of Samsung ‘leading the pack’ of buyers.
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It actually makes little sense for Samsung, who already produces a large array of Android devices — while maintaining its own custom OS Bada — to saddle itself with the completely separate BlackBerry system.
So it appears as if this particular rumor can be put to bed, although RIM’s future remains relatively unclear. Getting rid of Balsillie and co-CEO Mike Lazardis might very well be a good start though.
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