Amazon dropped its clearest hint that it’s looking at the mobile market after rumors surfaced it considered making an approach for BlackBerry manufacturer Research in Motion (RIM). Reuters reports that the overtures were spurned as the company’s board want co-chief executives Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie to focus on turning the business around rather than getting someone else in to do the job instead.
A Wall Street head of technology investment banking said: “They [RIM] have had approaches from folks who have wanted to have discussions,” said one head of technology investment banking at a Wall Street bank. “The issue is it is hard to find a value that makes sense with a falling knife.”
BlackBerry’s shunning of Amazon’s approach is a situation everyone can link back to that time you really, really wanted to go out with that girl and everything you did they spurned. Or they’ve just settled for the booby prize (delete as appropriate). Amazon is still looking to expand its ties with RIM and should its woes continue the firm is one of the best placed to take advantage of a possible takeover. The same article mentioned that other firms have looked at RIM with Wall Street bankers putting feelers out to HTC and Samsung asking whether they’d be interested in the firm.
Problems for RIM have been escalating over the past year and it just goes to show that they should have stayed focused on the business market. Their strength was always in the fact they were able to offer reliable and quick email to the business world. By focusing more and more on smart phones and tablets and not developing their email service the company has suffered by not being able to compete against Apple, Samsung, HTC and a host of other firms.
It’s all a shame. Blamazon would have made a catchy moniker.
