Right now BlackBerry is The Company That Would Not Die, despite all expectations to the contrary a short while back. Even Stuff predicted that BlackBerry’s life-span might be coming to an end but it’s been a few years since that erroneous augury. But the office-phone outfit might be getting a new lease on life, if a report by DigiTimes turns out to be correct.
BlackBerry’s put in an improved Q4 2014 performance, and it’s this that has made the company a target for possible acquisitions by an outside party. According to unnamed sources, several Chinese companies are looking to pluck this particular piece of fruit, namely Lenovo, Xiaomi, and Huawei (all of whom are hoping to get their foot in the door of the Western market), but there’s at least one American company interested as well.
Microsoft is that company and DigiTimes‘ report claims that Redmond holds the advantage in any possible acquisitions. There are a variety of reason what Microsoft has the best shot: compatible business models, regulator approval would be easier and then there’s the close geographical proximity. Whether BlackBerry wants to get into bed with Microsoft, who all but gutted the Nokia brand when they took over the Finnish company’s smartphone division, is another story. We’ll keep you posted.
Source: DigiTimes