Speculation is mounting that Microsoft is set to mount a $28 billion dollar takeover of Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) the makers of the popular Blackberry mobile phone.
The move would help Microsoft consolidate its declining share of the Smart Phone market which is set to be ravaged by both the Apple iPhone and the new Google Android smart phone. It could also alienate manufacturers like Samsung, HTC and others who are using the Windows Mobile OS on their mobile devices.
During the past month RIM’s share price on the Canadian stock exchange has been hit hard. Two months ago they were $150, overnight they have fallen to $63.87.
Reuters quoted Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek saying that Microsoft could make a $28 billion bid for the firm if the stock prices continue to fall. “I’m fairly certain they have a standing offer to buy them at $50 [a share],” the analyst reportedly said.
He suggests that such an acquisition may be a better strategic fit than the much-ballyhooed Microsoft Yahoo deal. “Microsoft does not have an iPhone-killer strategy. It does not have a Google Android strategy. Buying RIM would give them that.”
Blackberry maker Research In Motion will step up its campaign to get a bigger share of the consumer market in Australia next week when it launches the Pearl Flip 8220: the first clamshell Blackberry.
The Pearl, launched in North America last month, sports two screens: an external LCD for previewing incoming e-mails, text messages and phone calls without opening the handset; and a larger 240 by 320 internal LCD for displaying videos, photos and Web pages with what RIM claims is “impressive detail and contrast.
One problem in the increasingly 3G-conscious Down Under market: the Pearl Flip is a 2G-only device. Still, Alex Merton-McCann of Spectrum Communications, RIM’s local PR outfit, tells us the Flip will “offer a superb form-factor and high-end smartphone capabilities”.
The new clamshell will be launched at Sydney’s Walsh Bay Arras restaurant next Tuesday.
