Samsung recently made an attempt to buy BlackBerry if rumours are to be believed, although both companies vehemently deny any plans of a buyout. So what’s in it for Samsung, if the deal is real?
Just a few days ago, the South Korean tech giant is said to have offered up to $7.5 billion for Ontario-based BlackBerry, thought to be a bid to gain control of the company’s wealth of patents – a move similar to Google’s acquisition of Motorola back in 2011.
According to Forbes, Samsung executives met with counterparts at BlackBerry last week to hammer out the details of the deal and while both companies have publicly distanced themselves from the news, documents were reportedly shown to demonstrate that there is some truth to the rumours. And although BlackBerry might seem like a lame duck these days in a market dominated by Android and Apple, there’s a lot of sense behind a multi-billion bid from Samsung.
It’s no secret that BlackBerry has had a torrid time of things over the last few years. The company’s hold over the enterprise smartphone market has declined greatly in recent years, thanks to the rise of iOS and Android and the public’s desire for high-end touchscreen smartphones.
But for all of BlackBerry’s woes, the company is still trusted when it comes to security. The President of the USA uses a ‘Berry and that kind of promo is something Samsung would kill for…or pay $7.5 billion for, more appropriately.
Samsung introduced its own enterprise security solution in KNOX, but despite its recent NSA approval, other companies are still said to be unsure of taking up Google’s Android operating system, leaving Samsung’s bid to control the enterprise market high and dry.
The acquisition of BlackBerry and its assortment of tried and tested patents would likely see Samsung in a much healthier position. Of course, Samsung could also dip into BlackBerry’s vast experience in providing hardware keyboards, to deliver its own QWERTY handset.
News that Samsung was sniffing around BlackBerry sent the company’s stocks rising by a whopping 30% in U.S. markets, a serious change in fortune given recent dips. And while the price has begun to stabilise off the back of both companies’ denials, there’s still the underlying suggestion that something is afoot.
Would you like to see a Galaxy smartphone with a BlackBerry keyboard? Would you rather have a Samsung-made BlackBerry running on Android? Let us know in the comments below.
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