MIcrosoft and RIM

[Big Ang]

Just saw the Q1 fiscal results from RIM - OUCH!

Apparently the Blackberry 10 operating system will not be released until 2013.

I was just saying to a friend earlier this week that this fall will be a crucial time for both RIM and Microsoft to see who can grab the #3 spot in the smartphone marketplace. I guess we don't have to wait for the fall to find out.

I feel that RIM is on a burning oil platform. It doesn’t matter if they come out with the best OS ever with BB10, because by next year customers will have been enjoying either the Apple, Android, or even the Windows ecosystem for some time.

My prediction – RIM gets bought out by Microsoft, Apple, or Google in order to get a stronger foothold into the enterprise market. If someone other than Microsoft buys RIM, then MS might as well bow out as well. If Microsoft buys out RIM, then they have a chance to make it a 3-way horserace.

What do you guys think? Can RIM benefit Microsoft? Or will Apple or Google think that it's too good of a deal to pass up?

[migo]

Nah, not really. Sure, iPhone users will be on iOS 6, but how many people will be on Jelly Bean? Less than 7% of Android users are on ICS, with over 60% still on Gingerbread. And will Windows Phone 8 even be out by Q4 2012? MS hasn't provided a firm timeline on that, nor for Windows 8.

ICS is mostly theoretical for Android, as Gingerbread is still the reality with no guarantee of getting an update.
Windows Phone 8 is definitely theoretical for Microsoft, no consumer has a WP8 phone in their pockets right now.
iOS6 really doesn't bring a great deal to the table, it's an incremental upgrade over iOS5, which is an incremental upgrade over iOS4 which is... bottom line is iOS still isn't where webOS 1.0 was at a couple years ago, and BB10 will be ahead of that.

Most people with Androids will have been stuck on GB for so long and haven't got any upgrades that they'll have had a miserable experience for a while and will want to switch. Some will want to switch to iOS6, some will want to switch to WP8 and some will want to switch to BB10. That's to say nothing of those not even on GB yet. Less than 7% on ICS, with the miniscule amount on Honeycomb means the other 25% aren't even on GB. Even if we say 2/3 of Android users stick with Android, they'll probably want to try other platforms equally. If they liked Android because it was Linux based, the QNX base of BB10 will appeal to them. If they liked Android because it's not Microsoft or Apple, BB10 will appeal to them. It's fairly reasonable to say 8% of current Android users will want to switch to BB10, and that's more than are currently on ICS.

RIM won't be doing stellarly, and they definitely have issues with getting OS releases out on time, but they won't go under either.

[AahH]

I would prefer if one of the top 2 buys out RIM just for the patents and data center then FIRES everyone working for the company.. that would give me great great pleasure...

And then close the data center...

or I will just settle for closing waterpoop offices

[Big Ang]

Sure, RIM will survive for a while at #4, but then what? That's like Nokia saying that they could have survived for a while with Symbian and whatever Meego thing was coming next. Heck, I'd even say that Nokia had a better future a year ago (pre-Windows) than Blackberry has now. But in the long term you need be in a strong position, or else you die a slow death.

Look at the personal computer marketplace back in the 80's. There was MS-DOS, Apple, Commodore, Atari, Tandy, etc etc. Each platform had its advantages and its followers, but in the end only the strongest 2 survived.

In the smartphone marketplace of today, maybe there's room for 4 platforms, especially since a lot of stuff is in the cloud, and Blackberries and communicate with iPhones, and Androids can communicate with Windows Phones.

But Android dominates a lot more than many people thought it would, so there is a lot less of the pie to go around. Microsoft might be able to keep chugging along, and promote their phones by brute force if needed, but RIM's Blackberries are getting less and less desirable. Years ago, many people loved BBM, now they just learned to live without it. In some asian countries, your BBM ID is used more often than your phone #, but sooner or later that will change as well.

[migo]

PBOS is a great UI, BB10 will be better. Porting apps with native code will be easy, so while there will be less apps, BB10 won't be deficient. Anyone who wants the best OS will pick a blackberry. That state will remain as long as nobody else revamps their OS to make something better.
Sent from my Lumia 710 via the HowardForums WP7 App

[ALSHugh]

RIM is a controlled collapse. One doesn't release the kind of alarming financial info it did the Thursday before a long weekend so everyone can light their hair on fire the next day. You always save bad news for Friday in the hopes it doesn't look as bad come the week after. That and it is obvious RIM should become an Android vendor.

[Tendenzi]

RIM is a controlled collapse... and it is obvious RIM should become an Android vendor.

If RIM ever goes under, I hope they set up a small separate entity that will hold all their intellectual property/patents. For the platforms to evolve, it shouldn't go to the best back-room deal, or highest bidder, I'd prefer if everyone had the same price per license thing, and allow everyone to enjoy in their demise equally while RIM could still just collect royalties off their patents that failed them.

[Adyhooper]

Microsoft and RIM are collection of unpacked new offers. Microsoft and RIM both are bring windows live service to Blackberry smart phone super. RIM does not use Microsoft's ActiveSync-aware resources and it has isolated device management platform.

[Steve Adams]

I would love to see google buy rim out. they are already running android apps on the playbook. its a natural progression of things. then android could benifit from the bb messenger and push email from rim. wet dream.

Sent from my SGH-T989D using Tapatalk 2

[FlamingSkullz]

I would love to see google buy rim out. they are already running android apps on the playbook. its a natural progression of things. then android could benifit from the bb messenger and push email from rim. wet dream.

Sent from my SGH-T989D using Tapatalk 2

Since buying out Motorola i have my doubts that they'll pursue a buyout of RIM. For the Patents if the company dies it'll be a bidding war of Apple and Microsoft

[Big Ang]

I think a Google buyout of RIM would be a lot different than the Motorola deal (although both have a crapload of patents)

Motorola is a decent hardware manufacturer that was in trouble. Google saw a decent company that they thought would do better under their leadership, as well as buying their patents, AND having a foothold in the hardware manufacturing business just in case.

RIM has deep roots in the enterprise market. Google Android is already entrenched in the personal-use cellphone market and taking over the business market is the next step. That's where buying RIM can help. I think that Google is looking at RIM as a buyout target. But unlike Motorola, RIM's hardware side isn't really that special. Yeah, they make great quality phones, and maybe that, plus the brand name, is enough for it to continue as a separate entity, but if Google can assimilate RIM and add its technological distinctiveness to Android, then the Android collective will be greater as a result (Borg anyone?).

As far as Microsoft buying RIM, that will benefit them in the same way as Google, and then some. Before the Nokia-Microsoft deal, many people thought both Nokia and MS were dead in the water. But combined they actually made people take notice. A RIM-Microsoft deal where RIM remains separate can do the same, to a certain extent, however if Microsoft incorporates all of the back-office IT stuff that makes RIM great into the entire Windows Phone 8 platform, then it can become a serious contender. Without RIM, MS is going to have a heck of a time, especially if Google or Apple buy RIM.

Apple buying RIM is a bit of a wild card. Apple gives the impression that they will do everything inhouse and only employees brought up in the Apple way can and will change the world, etc etc. Sure they bought companies in the past, but have any been as large as RIM? Plus, does Apple need RIM to penetrate the enterprise market? It can help, but it's not like they could use it as much as Google. Would Apple want to buy RIM to help itself? Would Apple buy RIM for its patents? Would Apple buy RIM to prevent MS or Google from buying it? Who knows? If they did, the can because they have more money than some countries, but I'm not entirely sure they want to as much as MS or Google.

There are other companies that would probably want to buy RIM, for example Facebook might want to. I doubt they will, as RIM and Facebook seem to be on complete opposite ends of whatever spectrum you want to use. Amazon? Hmm, maybe, but I can't see that. Maybe HP is crazy enough. But I can't see any company other than MS/Google/Apple buying RIM without it turning into a HP-Palm fiasco.

[jjprusk]

But I can't see any company other than MS/Google/Apple buying RIM without it turning into a HP-Palm fiasco.

I agree that either Google or Apple could buyout RIM and make decent use of the technology and patents. With MS it would just be another eventual writeoff like aQuantive or the future of Skype, which they will surely mess up as well.

[scottae316]

RIM is a controlled collapse. One doesn't release the kind of alarming financial info it did the Thursday before a long weekend so everyone can light their hair on fire the next day. You always save bad news for Friday in the hopes it doesn't look as bad come the week after. That and it is obvious RIM should become an Android vendor.

If RIM would ever think of becoming an Android vendor, that would surely be the end of RIM. Most who use BlackBerry's want nothing to do with Android. Many say that both RIM and Nokia should have gone with Android, why? First you have the 8000 pound gorilla Samsung who dominates the Android market. Next you have Google's purchase of Motorola, do you see a conflict brewing here? So why would two struggling companies want to jump into this mix? If RIM is going to stop being an independent company with its own OS, then the best platform for them would be Windows Phone.