[99semaj]

Microsoft's CEO suprised many today with an unannounced keynote at Blackberry World, and revealed that he is purchasing the rights to be the default search and mapping provider on BB handsets.

Microsoft will invest in the BlackBerry platform from Research in Motion, becoming the default search provider in BlackBerry browsers and maps, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said during a surprise keynote appearance at BlackBerry World today.

 

[jvincent]

Surprising indeed.

<wild_speculation_mode on>

Could MSFT be pondering a takeover of RIM? Given the strong linkage between the Blackberry and Exchange in the enterprise market it would make sense and actually give MSFT a real presence in the mobile market.

Of course if it were to happen it would suck for Canadian tech since RIM is the biggest Canadian tech company by far right now.


<wild_speculation_mode off>

 

[hugh]

Market Cap of RIM is 24 Billion so they'd probably need to offer 36 Billion or more.

Ballmer is pretty arrogant so I doubt he'd ever admit that Windows Phone was not going to work and if I doubt they would have two OS's two types of phones etc.

Also why invest in a company that is rapidly losing market share? Of course, they bid on Yahoo so................

 

[99semaj]

I think its all about Search and Mapping, and buying mindshare from RIM's blue chip customer base. I don't think it's got anything at all to do with WP7, other than perhaps an acknowledgement that they need to incubate their services on other platforms because they failed to execute on their own.

 

[Gino Cerullo]

This is all about their competition with Google in the search/advertising business. They need to make as many partnerships as possible if they want to compete against Google in the mobile advertising space. They know that Windows Phone 7 alone isn't going to get them there. Don't be surprised if some kind of announced partnership with Apple to either become the default search engine on iOS, or at least an alternative to Google, isn't announced at some future date. They just need to pony up enough money to Apple.

This has nothing to do with a possible take-over of RIM. Microsoft is opposed to being in the hardware business. They believe too much in creating relationships with partners. They think the path to success is to emulate the business model they have in desktop operating systems. Unfortunately they are too late to that party and Google has taken that opportunity away from them with Android. Had they released Windows Phone 7 back when Android was released they might be in the position that Google is in right now but they were in denial back then and didn't believe that Apple had changed the rules of what a mobile platform was.

If they were smart they never would have gone the partnership route with Windows Phone 7 and instead they should have emulated Apple to produce their own hardware. Of course the utter failure of KIN didn't help, they never should have released that turd. It was like announcing to the world "we don't know what we are doing." Today, if WP7 was on their own hardware they would be releasing a second update by now instead of struggling to deliver the first one and having to fight with mobile providers over control of the platform.

 

[cambo]

It's been widely suspected and expected that MSFT will eventually purchase controlling shares of RIM. RIM has a HUGE corporate base here and globally. Windows Phone 7 is turning out to be a bust, so purchasing RIM would give them an established market. Something they've always done. It would be very easy to market Blackberry services, native integration with Exchange, then sell that as a complete package.

 

[james99]

I wouldn't be surprised if RIM is purchased by MS. Next on the agenda would be a NHL team in Hamilton owned by Steve Ballmer.

 

[Gino Cerullo]

It's been widely suspected and expected that MSFT will eventually purchase controlling shares of RIM. RIM has a HUGE corporate base here and globally. Windows Phone 7 is turning out to be a bust, so purchasing RIM would give them an established market. Something they've always done. It would be very easy to market Blackberry services, native integration with Exchange, then sell that as a complete package.

Although I have my doubts about this I wouldn't put it past them. Microsoft has a long history of changing direction on a dime and throwing their partners under the bus. The best example that could be compared to this situation is when Microsoft decided to dump 'Plays for Sure' and go their own route with Zune. Many hardware partners were left holding the bag on that one. And their are many other examples of Microsoft doing this in the mobile space alone.

If they did do this it would mean the end of Nokia as they are abandoning everything to put their full resources behind Windows Phone 7. If Microsoft decided to abandon it in favour of RIM it would set back Nokia another year as they tried to switch to something else, most likely Android. It would also be a big slap in the face of all the developers that jumped on to WP7. They would lose the trust of all those developers and never gain them back which would mean that their investment in RIM would also suffer as developers would ignore it or abandon it in the face of the Microsoft investment. They just wouldn't be able to trust Microsoft anymore.

Honestly, Microsoft really has only one path in mobile left to them. That is to put their full faith and resources behind WP7 and hope that it gains enough traction for them to actually make money from it. If they can't do it with WP7 then they may as well forget about mobile and concentrate on something else.

 

[99semaj]

I wouldn't be surprised if RIM is purchased by MS. Next on the agenda would be a NHL team in Hamilton owned by Steve Ballmer.

You know, thats something Ballmer could actually do well at. I'd love to see him get eaten alive on Coach's Corner...

Honestly, Microsoft really has only one path in mobile left to them. That is to put their full faith and resources behind WP7 and hope that it gains enough traction for them to actually make money from it. If they can't do it with WP7 then they may as well forget about mobile and concentrate on something else.

I doubt at this point that WP7 has much hope left. Everyone seems to acknowledge that except for Nokia. I believe they are on the smarter path by buying shelf space for Bing search and mapping on other platforms. They appear to have competency there, and should leave hardware and mobile OS to the experts.

 

[james99]

I'm in favour of anything that ticks off Gary Bettman. Doesn't he own sports teams already?