Samsung: We're not buying RIM, or BlackBerry 10 licenses
Less than a day after a Jefferies analyst said RIM was looking to "revive discussions with Samsung" over a licensing pact, Samsung has poured cold water on the suggestions.
While the struggling smartphone maker's chief executive Thorsten Heins has not ruled out licensing the forthcoming BlackBerry 10 operating system in the future, Samsung said it had "not considered" either acquiring RIM in whole, or licensing the new software to install it in its upcoming smartphones.
RIM's shares jumped by more than 5 percent on Wednesday on talk of the rumors.
"RIM is attempting to revive discussions with Samsung regarding a BB10 licensing deal," said Jefferies analyst Peter Misek in a note seen by AllThingsD. But earlier this year, Samsung said it flat-out denied it was considering buying the Canada-based smartphone maker.
Also in the note, Misek said: "We believe Samsung is considering ramping up its internal [operating system] development efforts, licensing BB10, or buying RIM" but believed an acquisition would be unlikely until after BlackBerry 10 launches in the stores next year.
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BlackBerry 10 was also pushed back from a pre-Christmas release to the first-quarter of 2013, which will likely dent sales following the popular holiday season where electronics makers battle for the store shelves.
The Korea-based giant uses Google's Android on the vast majority of its devices, but also uses Bada and Windows Phone operating systems. A licensing deal between RIM and Samsung would see BlackBerry 10 installed on non-BlackBerry smartphones -- a move away from the traditional tight hardware and software ecosystem that RIM currently controls.
There seems to be some leeway here, however. "Not considered" means up to a point no thoughts have existed, whereas in the future the situation may change. It's unlikely that Samsung would want to buy a loss-making smartphone maker considering its already strong sales and licensing ties with Google.
Samsung remains the world's top smartphone maker, while RIM continues to trundle along in the face of serious financial troubles.