RIM May Sell Hardware Division if BlackBerry 10 Fails

By Zak Islam
published

Canadian firm's upcoming OS is last chance to change its fortunes.

Research In Motion has said that it may sell its hardware division if BlackBerry 10 fails.

Thorsten Heins, the CEO who has been managing the Canadian smartphone manufacturer for a year, stressed that while it's confident in its upcoming mobile operating system, it's still preparing for the worst.

"We do not want to limit our options… There are several options, including the sale of the hardware production is as much as licensing our software. But there is no reason for us to decide in hectic. It is important first of all, BlackBerry 10 successfully putting them on the market. Then we shall see."

Heins added that the final decision relies on the results pertaining to a company-wide evaluation that's currently in progress. RIM is apparently "debt-free" and has "$2.9 billion cash available," he stated.

BlackBerry 10 will launch worldwide on January 30, which is the same date when RIM will unveil the first smartphones powered by the platform.

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Zak Islam
8 Comments Comment from the forums
  • alidan
    would rim become a pattent troll if they sold hardware devision... what else do they make?
    Reply
  • martel80
    If BB 10 is a failure, isn't it more likely to be a failure of the OS/UI (SW) rather than the hardware?
    Reply
  • sixdegree
    In my opinion, Mr. Heinz shouldn't said that. Things like that tends to make potential investor scared and existing investor ANGRY. The existing investors are the early BIRDS, thus the ones who took the biggest risks in a company who currently bleed market share. Mr. Heinz should hold off telling this kind of thing until the launch of the new platform and instead push the launch date, which in turn, FREE the investors from the doubt and create more positive outlook FOR BB 10 platform. Also, if he wants a surefire success for rim's new devices, maybe he can look for clue in this post.
    Reply
  • icemunk
    sixdegreeIn my opinion, Mr. Heinz shouldn't said that. Things like that tends to make potential investor scared and existing investor ANGRY. The existing investors are the early BIRDS, thus the ones who took the biggest risks in a company who currently bleed market share. Mr. Heinz should hold off telling this kind of thing until the launch of the new platform and instead push the launch date, which in turn, FREE the investors from the doubt and create more positive outlook FOR BB 10 platform. Also, if he wants a surefire success for rim's new devices, maybe he can look for clue in this post.
    *Potential*. I would hope you do a lot of research before jumping on board, just due to what the CEO says they may do. I'm happy with my RIM stock, I bought it earlier in December at $10 per share, and am sitting at about $17 a share, I'm a happy investor.
    Reply
  • spentshells
    BB10 is actually pretty awesome after playing with it. If I wanted a new phone I would likely get it.
    Reply
  • shqtth
    I want bb10 ;) iOS can kiss my ass. I hate my iPhone 3G.

    too many version of iOS comes out too fast, fragmenting the app store, limiting what version can run on what device, or in my case most apps require iOS 4.3 or higher, yet, there is no apps for 4.2 even the latest version that did run on my device. (App store needs an equivalent to oldversion website, so you can get the latest version of an app for a particular iOS version)
    . Oh ya, and if you want it in HD, you pay for the app all over again instead of an upgrade fee !


    iOS is a joke.

    I can't re-download my app I own, as only the newer version are on the app store requiring newer version of iOS. So I should of updated my Apps when I had the chance to the latest version before the app no longer supported my device, but thats hard. So now I am forced to sync with the app on my pc just to reinstall, but app sync was never enabled on my pc, so I have to kill off all my data, so im screwed. And also, when you upgrade your app, you can't revert to previous version just incase the app takes away features or crashes, I been screwed over a few times and the app stopped working or the app started to include adds that killed off my battery. I might of been forced to updated because of the newer iOS version too. Life would be a lot simpler if they just stuck to a few iOS versions instead of being all over the place. Some apps artificially enforce the iOS version, when there is no reason too.


    Multiple iOS version = bad thing
    Reply
  • nondy
    time to upgrade my 9300 3g :)
    Reply
  • K2N hater
    So pessimistic... Makes me wonder if that's a puppet CEO sponsored by some other major manufacturer.
    Reply