It is common knowledge that the mobile handset manufacturer and enterprise messaging service provider, Research In Motion (RIM) is in troubled waters ever since it started losing its market share to the likes of Apple and Samsung. The company, however, does not want to be bought, a sentiment which RIM CEO Thorsten Heins has shared many times over. They would rather find “opportunities to leverage the BlackBerry platform through partnerships, licensing opportunities and strategic business model alternatives.” Now, it seems the time for partnerships is long gone and according to a report in the UK daily, The Sunday Times, RIM might split it’s into two divisions. The hardware division which manufactures the handsets and Services division which takes care of exclusive RIM services such as BBM, BES and BIS.
It makes sense, particularly since it’s the hardware division that is struggling to survive in the market. Whereas, services such as the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) still has the potential to bring in profits to the company and help it through the tough times. These services are currently exclusive to Blackberry handsets but by licensing out the enterprise-friendly messaging and data network services to other handsets and providers, RIM can make a good business out of the popular services.
According to The Sunday Times report, the potential buyers of the hardware division are Facebook and Amazon. The paper also states that Research in Motion’s final plans about the split and sell plans will be revealed sometime this summer.
The Canadian compnay is also expected to bring out the new Blackberry 10 Operating System sometime later this year. So, it will also be interesting to see how the launch of the new OS, which RIM hopes will revive interest in its handset, will play out if the hardware division is actually sold out.
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