Samsung says not interested in buying RIM
(Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co said on Wednesday it was not interested in taking over Research In Motion after shares of the BlackBerry smartphone maker jumped more than 10 percent following a tech blog report that it was seeking to sell itself to the South Korean firm.
Context & Ripple Effects
Samsung’s denial follows reports that RIM had brought Goldman Sachs in to field potential buyout interest and that Amazon had weighed an acquisition before its interest cooled. The sequence puts the focus on RIM’s ability to attract a credible buyer rather than on any confirmed Samsung transaction.
Samsung had also rejected pursuing WebOS in 2011, making its stated lack of interest in RIM consistent with a record of publicly distancing itself from major platform acquisitions.
First-order effects
- Samsung is no longer a stated buyer for RIM, removing the company at the center of the report that drove BlackBerry-maker shares higher.
- RIM’s reported sale process must rely on other potential bidders or alternatives after Samsung’s denial.
Second-order effects
- The episode makes RIM’s valuation more sensitive to the credibility of individual buyer reports, after Amazon’s reported interest had already cooled.
- Samsung’s smartphone software strategy remains centered on its confirmed Bada-to-Tizen plan rather than an acquisition of RIM’s platform.
Third-order effects
- Repeated buyer speculation around RIM points to a handset market in which ownership of a mobile platform is treated as a strategic asset, but the available coverage does not establish a completed deal or a willing buyer.
- As platform acquisition rumors move share prices before transactions are confirmed, corporate denials become an important check on market narratives around distressed or strategic assets.
The trend: Mobile-platform strategy is being contested through partnerships and internal operating-system development alongside intermittent acquisition speculation for established handset vendors.