IMHO Apple should buy them in whole or part. Better to get the patents and IP rather than allow a legal enemy to obtain them and shield themselves or strengthen their position against you.
Blackberry has always had a strong government presence so Apple could use that to move deeper into enterprise. I know they have made a lot of headway there but more would definitely pad the bottom line.
...
I agree but mainly for BB's US government and enterprise installations. It might be too late but BB has mobile server technology that's been accredited for top secret use of their phones (totally encrypted communications). I don't believe Apple has this capability yet. Yes, this isn't a huge market but iPhones are already making a huge dent at government installations and taking over the existing BES(?) servers would mean a much less expensive conversion for existing installations. BB's IP could be nice while it lasts but having a large foot in the door in corporate America (BB's much be used for legal reasons in many corporations because of government standards) would be better. Is it worth the expense? Maybe not. The fact it's a Canadian company helps because Canada isn't treated the same way as "foreign" companies when dealing with government procurements (there are several large contracts with Canadian companies being used by the US government). As for the phones, I'd dump them quickly but not allow any other company to buy them.
Google will buy it. They buy everything. Their business plan is to incrementally co-opt and acquire anything of value. Advertisers and cockroaches will be all that remains. Resistance is futile.
You might be right. They'll spend another $12B on nothing of value, at least nothing they could actually use.
Google will buy it. They buy everything. Their business plan is to incrementally co-opt and acquire anything of value. Advertisers and cockroaches will be all that remains. Resistance is futile.
It seems strange to me that they are "puttting themselves up for sale" when they have BEEN for sale for years, as a publicly traded company. Anyone who cared to buy them could have done so long ago. Nevertheless, it's shocking that a mere 2.5 hrs of trading after the announcement, BBRY is up 11%. In fact, in the last 2.5 days, since their "meeting", they're up a whopping 30%. (Nevermind that they've lost 92% of their stock value since the high of June '08.)
Sad to see a company have a brainstorming meeting where the consensus-best-decision is to "give up". And yet that seems to have been a profitable decision, at least in the short term.
I was going to say "HP" but they seemed to have learned their lesson.
Through Palm, hp already bought a smartphone with a keyboard. Too bad that the keyboard on my Palm Pre never worked very well--and I wasn't alone in that. But I did like WebOS. Until hp EOL'd the whole thing.
Can't Apple buy them for patents and good tech that blackberry still has so iOS benefits from it while running Blackberry has a separate company?
Well, call it orange! "oh, blackberry and apple are the same company!" "no they aren't, Apples and oranges!"
That way they could produce phones that sell for less than 300 dollars no-contract and run iOS, no? They could have the 10 sad persons that still demand a physical qwerty, while giving a option for students outside of the US that can't afford expensive devices and contracts.
Looks like the new iphone 5c will cost the same as the 4s, if the rumours are right, and that means 500 € no contract for a "cheaper" device in Europe. Good luck with that, Apple.
There are some great sub-300€ jelly bean android devices out there, i do not understand Apple's position. I'm not even talking about screen size, just a different offering. I love vanilla android, I just see iOS as a better OS and current iPhones as better devices and already have a Mac, otherwise I would've bought another android device already.
I will wait and see a bit more.
I don't know if Apple needs their patents. Sure, they have the money, but unless they have technology worthwhile that they didn't already have access to, I honestly don't think they NEED to buy Blackberry. Generally speaking Apple stays away from buying high profile big ticket purchases. They do have some cash, receivables, and plants that might be useful, but I don't know if this would be beneficial to Apple.
I think Google, HP, Dell would be more likely. But that's off the top of my head potential suitors.
BB should try to own a niche in the post 2007 world, but they can seem to find one. Ideally, it would be a profitable one. That's why many niches are high end: margins are healthy enough to support it. Their marketing message has always been muddled: "Wake up" or "Amateur hour is over," and only recently been backed by solid product releases. The z10 is the phone they should have made back in 2008, not 6 years after iPhone.
They could sell or license keyboard designs (or even hardware) to companies that make keyboarded phones (hey, they still do!) and to companies that make accessories/snap-ons for iPhones/others.
People who like keyboards often appreciate BlackBerry's.
And BBM has some lingering value--already it's cross-platform.
Yes, I know that.I still can't undertand the US only part.
Seriously Apple, get your f*cking act together. If Bezos was runing Apple, he would've already used some billions to buy some studios and sell movies and TV shows worldwide at the same price,same day, no restrictions. That way other studios would be forced to do the same.
If Bezos is that powerful how come it's not like that on Amazon.
Because he's not. He has to kowtow to the studios like everyone else
Through Palm, hp already bought a smartphone with a keyboard. Too bad that the keyboard on my Palm Pre never worked very well--and I wasn't alone in that. But I did like WebOS. Until hp EOL'd the whole thing.
WebOS seemed to be a contender, and I'm surprised HP squandered it so badly and then gave away the IP. Before then, they were going nuts with webOS, saying it would be pre installed on HP computers as a Windows app or something like that. No clear product vision.
Yes, I know that.I still can't undertand the US only part.
Seriously Apple, get your f*cking act together. If Bezos was runing Apple, he would've already used some billions to buy some studios and sell movies and TV shows worldwide at the same price,same day, no restrictions. That way other studios would be forced to do the same.
It's not all Apple's call. They have to abide by the distribution rights granted by the studios who own the films.
I could see Microsoft buying it for two reasons. First, they could incorporate the BBM / enterprise stuff directly into windows phone, eliminate any kind of cross-platform access so if you wanted that stuff WP was the only option. And second, to simply shut down / eliminate a competitor and cement themselves as the #3 smartphone platform.
I don't know how feasable or likely any of that is, but it seems to me to be something Microsoft would do.
On the other hand, I'd like to see Apple buy it, also for two reasons. First, they could perhaps bring the BBM / enterprise stuff fully into iOS, in order to bring in all those BB users who swear by that technology. And second, to simply shut it down, crush it, and ask Balsile and Lazardus if they're still laughing.
I don't expect any of that to happen of course. I just think it would be amusing.
IP is the only value to Apple. Apple doesn't want their infrastructure or their brand. Apple don't need their messaging system. BB is dying, so its customers will continue to migrate to other platforms. Apple will get a considerable chunk of those customers for free as they abandon the sinking BB ship, so it doesn't make any sense for them to pay to buy them, either.
Blackberry hardware is worthless. Their engineering is worthless. Their software is worthless. All they have are patents. Which are currently connected to failed products and a failed business model.
If the price tag was CHEAP ENOUGH they might get buyers .... But I doubt the big players will be falling all over each other to acquire them. They've already seen the Google-Moto fiasco.
And BBM alone is hardly a selling point. It was really interesting around three years ago, but the market doesn't really give a sweet shit about it today. There are apps that do as much or nearly as much, anyway.
Their patents are coming up on the 20 year mark when then anyone can use that tech. It'll be wasting good money buying BB for patents that will soon expire.
Every single one of their patents, huh.
Originally Posted by Gatorguy
Google wouldn't be permitted too either IMHO.
Why? They bought Motorola.
Originally Posted by pedromartins
Seriously Apple, get your f*cking act together. If Bezos was runing Apple, he would've already used some billions to buy some studios and sell movies and TV shows worldwide at the same price,same day, no restrictions. That way other studios would be forced to do the same.
Take a chill pill. You're obviously blatantly and hilariously wrong. Why would you say this?
Comments
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pujones1
IMHO Apple should buy them in whole or part. Better to get the patents and IP rather than allow a legal enemy to obtain them and shield themselves or strengthen their position against you.
Blackberry has always had a strong government presence so Apple could use that to move deeper into enterprise. I know they have made a lot of headway there but more would definitely pad the bottom line.
...
I agree but mainly for BB's US government and enterprise installations. It might be too late but BB has mobile server technology that's been accredited for top secret use of their phones (totally encrypted communications). I don't believe Apple has this capability yet. Yes, this isn't a huge market but iPhones are already making a huge dent at government installations and taking over the existing BES(?) servers would mean a much less expensive conversion for existing installations. BB's IP could be nice while it lasts but having a large foot in the door in corporate America (BB's much be used for legal reasons in many corporations because of government standards) would be better. Is it worth the expense? Maybe not. The fact it's a Canadian company helps because Canada isn't treated the same way as "foreign" companies when dealing with government procurements (there are several large contracts with Canadian companies being used by the US government). As for the phones, I'd dump them quickly but not allow any other company to buy them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robin Huber
Google will buy it. They buy everything. Their business plan is to incrementally co-opt and acquire anything of value. Advertisers and cockroaches will be all that remains. Resistance is futile.
You might be right. They'll spend another $12B on nothing of value, at least nothing they could actually use.
Google wouldn't be permitted too either IMHO.
It seems strange to me that they are "puttting themselves up for sale" when they have BEEN for sale for years, as a publicly traded company. Anyone who cared to buy them could have done so long ago. Nevertheless, it's shocking that a mere 2.5 hrs of trading after the announcement, BBRY is up 11%. In fact, in the last 2.5 days, since their "meeting", they're up a whopping 30%. (Nevermind that they've lost 92% of their stock value since the high of June '08.)
Sad to see a company have a brainstorming meeting where the consensus-best-decision is to "give up". And yet that seems to have been a profitable decision, at least in the short term.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton
I was going to say "HP" but they seemed to have learned their lesson.
Through Palm, hp already bought a smartphone with a keyboard. Too bad that the keyboard on my Palm Pre never worked very well--and I wasn't alone in that. But I did like WebOS. Until hp EOL'd the whole thing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pedromartins
Can't Apple buy them for patents and good tech that blackberry still has so iOS benefits from it while running Blackberry has a separate company?
Well, call it orange! "oh, blackberry and apple are the same company!" "no they aren't, Apples and oranges!"
That way they could produce phones that sell for less than 300 dollars no-contract and run iOS, no? They could have the 10 sad persons that still demand a physical qwerty, while giving a option for students outside of the US that can't afford expensive devices and contracts.
Looks like the new iphone 5c will cost the same as the 4s, if the rumours are right, and that means 500 € no contract for a "cheaper" device in Europe. Good luck with that, Apple.
There are some great sub-300€ jelly bean android devices out there, i do not understand Apple's position. I'm not even talking about screen size, just a different offering. I love vanilla android, I just see iOS as a better OS and current iPhones as better devices and already have a Mac, otherwise I would've bought another android device already.
I will wait and see a bit more.
I don't know if Apple needs their patents. Sure, they have the money, but unless they have technology worthwhile that they didn't already have access to, I honestly don't think they NEED to buy Blackberry. Generally speaking Apple stays away from buying high profile big ticket purchases. They do have some cash, receivables, and plants that might be useful, but I don't know if this would be beneficial to Apple.
I think Google, HP, Dell would be more likely. But that's off the top of my head potential suitors.
Any company could, but I don't see Apple doing it. Well the patents yes, but not keeping the brand etc.
If they wanted a low price phone, qwerty keyboard etc they could have done it ages ago
People who like keyboards often appreciate BlackBerry's.
And BBM has some lingering value--already it's cross-platform.
If Bezos is that powerful how come it's not like that on Amazon.
Because he's not. He has to kowtow to the studios like everyone else
WebOS seemed to be a contender, and I'm surprised HP squandered it so badly and then gave away the IP. Before then, they were going nuts with webOS, saying it would be pre installed on HP computers as a Windows app or something like that. No clear product vision.
It's not all Apple's call. They have to abide by the distribution rights granted by the studios who own the films.
I could see Microsoft buying it for two reasons. First, they could incorporate the BBM / enterprise stuff directly into windows phone, eliminate any kind of cross-platform access so if you wanted that stuff WP was the only option. And second, to simply shut down / eliminate a competitor and cement themselves as the #3 smartphone platform.
I don't know how feasable or likely any of that is, but it seems to me to be something Microsoft would do.
On the other hand, I'd like to see Apple buy it, also for two reasons. First, they could perhaps bring the BBM / enterprise stuff fully into iOS, in order to bring in all those BB users who swear by that technology. And second, to simply shut it down, crush it, and ask Balsile and Lazardus if they're still laughing.
I don't expect any of that to happen of course. I just think it would be amusing.
The costs vs. benefits analysis wouldn't look too promising.
If the price tag was CHEAP ENOUGH they might get buyers .... But I doubt the big players will be falling all over each other to acquire them. They've already seen the Google-Moto fiasco.
And BBM alone is hardly a selling point. It was really interesting around three years ago, but the market doesn't really give a sweet shit about it today. There are apps that do as much or nearly as much, anyway.
Originally Posted by dasanman69
Their patents are coming up on the 20 year mark when then anyone can use that tech. It'll be wasting good money buying BB for patents that will soon expire.
Every single one of their patents, huh.
Originally Posted by Gatorguy
Google wouldn't be permitted too either IMHO.
Why? They bought Motorola.
Originally Posted by pedromartins
Seriously Apple, get your f*cking act together. If Bezos was runing Apple, he would've already used some billions to buy some studios and sell movies and TV shows worldwide at the same price,same day, no restrictions. That way other studios would be forced to do the same.
Take a chill pill. You're obviously blatantly and hilariously wrong. Why would you say this?
You just mentioned one of the biggest reasons.