“Shares of Canadian handset manufacturer BlackBerry Limited jumped nearly 6% in yesterday’s trading session, following rumors that it might be acquired by rival Apple Inc,” Zacks Equity Research writes via Yahoo Finance.
MacDailyNews Take: “Rival.” (smirk)
“In January this year, a similar rumor of BlackBerry getting acquired by Samsung had driven up the company’s shares by around 30% in a day,” Zacks writes. “But the trend reversed when BlackBerry declared that the rumors were baseless.”
“BlackBerry has a very powerful patent portfolio consisting of about 44,000 patents worldwide in the areas of data security and basic wireless technologies,” Zacks writes. “Apple has had tremendous success in the consumer segment and it has tied with IBM to build share in the enterprise segment. Apple’s product quality and IBM customization is likely to help it penetrate IBM’s customer base, or at least that is the idea. Despite its shrinking market share, Blackberry still has some loyal users and its technology is still valuable, particularly for enterprises. The huge portfolio of patents is also a positive.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: These are the types of rumors that swirl around dying companies.
Let’s get real, shall we? Blackberry still has “some” loyal users just like there were “some” Dodo birds in the 1660s.
The fact is that Apple’s done just fine so far without owning BlackBerry or their patents.
Some large holder of next to worthless equity in Blackberry wanted to cash in before the lights go off. Did any ex-CEO’s bank account suddenly grow?
Blackberry may be dying, but there is value to their patents. Just look at the Rockstar Consortium’s acquisition of Nortel IP for comparison. Apple could use some of Blackberry’s IP in their own products without royalty and keep competitors from it at the same time.
Yeah, just look how much money Apple got out of Samdung because of Apple’s (valuable) patents!
/s
It ain’t over till the fat lady sings, Apple judgment agains Samscum will prevail in the supreme court.
Courts or by taking share and customers, this ends in Apple winning regardless.
Yes, and Apple (and the others) waited until Nortel went into bankruptcy so they obtained the patents on the cheap.
Further, Apple has plenty of experience in how slow and ineffective patent enforcement can be in the U.S. So while Blackberry’s patents may be good, their applicability/usefulness to Apple is very limited, especially if Blackberry’s patents which Apple wants must be licensed under FRAND terms anyway.
Hard to say if waiting for the bankruptcy sale worked out well for Apple. With the cash Apple has on hand, Cook has been looking hard at places to spend it. But he is so slow to act, so other companies have outmaneuvered Apple frequently. Why would Apple sit back and let other companies bid up the price in an auction when Apple could just buy cash-strapped companies BEFORE bankruptcy occurs?
Buying Blackberry instead of Beats back when that deal went down would have put Apple in a much better position today.
Why? Because Apple could really use stuff like:
– Blackberry Enterprise Server
– Blackberry’s internet services
– Blackberry’s Network Operations Center
– Blackberry’s polling mail services
– Blackberry’s database management systems & CRM interfaces
– Blackberry’s QNX mobile technologies
– Blackberry’s relationship with Porsche Design, etc
– Blackberry’s lucrative contracts to provide secure communications for many governments and corporations
Anyone who thinks Blackberry is dead is obviously unaware that Blackberry is now a $3.5+ billion company with positive cash flow that prioritizes commercial services over mass-market consumer stuff. Smaller, yes. Slower growth, yes. But far from dead, and chock full of technology and services that are superior in many ways to what Apple is able to offer.
agreed… 3.5 Bil is chump change for a company with this many strategic assets….seems like a lot better deal than Beats!
Geeze MDN, I which you’d tell us these things BEFORE they happen. Your readers could have made some dough.
Unlikely: Apple’s many environmental initiatives would indicate an aversion to dead dinosaurs.
What advantage is there in buying a competitor whom you have put out of business? 😌
For the right price of course it would be worth it. But yeah, it in no way is something Apple has to do.
Biggest company on the planet.
This is only a good deal for Apple if the value of their used furniture exceeds the buyout price.
It’s all about the patents, the only real asset left in the carcass of Blackberry. Apple will weigh the worth of those patents against whether to but them out of bankruptcy or buy the company for pennies on the dollar.
Apple buying Blackberry would be like running over a skunk with your car and then picking it up and taking the dead skunk home.
If Apple wants Blackberry’s patents, they’ll buy them at auction from the receivers.
-jcr
You never know when a patent for physical keyboards, plastic cases and BES (BlackBerry Enterprise Server) will come in handy. /s
Doesn’t Blackberry own the QNX operating system used in automobile’s? Perhaps the acquisition is to enhance Carplay.