[DrBoomBotz]

Ocurred to me a while ago, have not given it a great amount of thought but here goes.

apple buys blackberry for the patent portfolio.
they keep the bb10 software team.
they keep enough bbos folks to sustain the legacy products.
they assimilate the noc, mdm, bbm etc...

The blackberry team gets to make a prosumer querty phone and possibly a slider.
the hardware is done through apples hardware vertical.

The blackberry team operates at arms length as a skunkworks.
they only really have to break even which is easier because the cost of goods sold is lower now. they are allowed to operate at break even because they are Now a small peice of a big apple pie.
Apple controls an area of the market that would be a vacuum if blackberry tanks.
They have bb10 and qnx to use for the internet of things and as a plan b in the event that apple starts to die from its own success.





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[diegonei]

Thinking is free and imagination can take you anywhere.

I would not bet on any of that though.

[Troy Tiscareno]

Apple tries to minimize their acquisitions, and when they do buy a company, it's usually a small one, and mostly for their patents/tech.

BB really doesn't have anything that Apple needs or wants, and is way too big of a company to buy solely for BB's patents, which aren't worth a lot to Apple at this point (I'm not saying they might not be worth more to someone else, just not to Apple).

Then consider that with all of Apple's past acquisitions, the company acquired is immediately integrated into Apple, and anything Apple doesn't use for Apple products is immediately sold off or discontinued. They definitely don't buy competitors and then keep them running.

Finally, Apple had the opportunity to bid for BB a month or two ago. They weren't interested.

The problem with these "scenarios" is that, while they might be wonderful for BB, no one ever looks at why the other company would want to give BB a whole bunch of money. What would they get out of the deal that they can't do themselves already?

[birdman_38]

If Apple has a use for BlackBerry it would have happened already. They'd also have the US Department of Justice to contend with in such a large acquisition of patents.

[DrBoomBotz]

Sorry I thought it was obviously a dream team scenario.
I realize the time has come and gone for this to happen.

I don't think blackberry can make hardware cheap enough to be profitable on their own.

[propeller10]

Apple tries to minimize their acquisitions, and when they do buy a company, it's usually a small one, and mostly for their patents/tech.

BB really doesn't have anything that Apple needs or wants, and is way too big of a company to buy solely for BB's patents, which aren't worth a lot to Apple at this point (I'm not saying they might not be worth more to someone else, just not to Apple).

Then consider that with all of Apple's past acquisitions, the company acquired is immediately integrated into Apple, and anything Apple doesn't use for Apple products is immediately sold off or discontinued. They definitely don't buy competitors and then keep them running.

Finally, Apple had the opportunity to bid for BB a month or two ago. They weren't interested.

The problem with these "scenarios" is that, while they might be wonderful for BB, no one ever looks at why the other company would want to give BB a whole bunch of money. What would they get out of the deal that they can't do themselves already?

I feel like companies are actually interested in BB. But they are just waiting for BB to go down so they can grab it for a fraction of what it's worth now. They must be pretty sure that BB is not going to last very long.

[ElGusta]

I feel like companies are actually interested in BB. But they are just waiting for BB to go down so they can grab it for a fraction of what it's worth now. They must be pretty sure that BB is not going to last very long.

Which companies?

[propeller10]

Which companies?

MS, apple, Google. Just the usual suspects who wanted to just buy parts of Blackberry.
Edit: Left out a word. Fixed.

[birdman_38]

Sorry I thought it was obviously a dream team scenario.
I realize the time has come and gone for this to happen.

I don't think blackberry can make hardware cheap enough to be profitable on their own.

No apology needed. Having one of the most profitable companies in the world team up with the pioneer of smartphones is intriguing. It may take on a different meaning than what you had envisioned though.

[cgk]

The problem with these "scenarios" is that, while they might be wonderful for BB, no one ever looks at why the other company would want to give BB a whole bunch of money. What would they get out of the deal that they can't do themselves already?

Same when we see the suggestions about "X should license bb10" - nobody can explain why anyone would want to license a sales failure.

[diegonei]

All mobile platforms made Bids for BlackBerry while they were on the Fairfax deal.

Apple included.

Quit it with "BlackBerry doesn't have anything Apple wants".

It just won't happen as the OP imagined. They want the patents alone. Specially the security/enterprise bit.

Posted via CB10

[DrBoomBotz]

The problem with these "scenarios" is that, while they might be wonderful for BB, no one ever looks at why the other company would want to give BB a whole bunch of money. What would they get out of the deal that they can't do themselves already?

I listed the benefits to apple in my post.

[DrBoomBotz]

If Apple has a use for BlackBerry it would have happened already. They'd also have the US Department of Justice to contend with in such a large acquisition of patents.

In what way would Apple have to contend with the doj?

[JeepBB]

In what way would Apple have to contend with the doj?

I suspect Birdman is referring to the anti-competition regulations that most countries have.

I'm not a lawyer, but regulatory authorities are generally keen to have a level playing field. Any single company that tries to corner the market by acquiring patents that would allow them to stifle competition often has an uphill task to convince the authorities to allow it.

I also agree with several of the posters above. I'm sure there are other companies interested in BB... but only in parts of BB, and only at the right price. The time for other companies to express interest in buying BB as a going-concern has been and gone.

[TGR1]

All mobile platforms made Bids for BlackBerry while they were on the Fairfax deal.

Apple included.

Quit it with "BlackBerry doesn't have anything Apple wants".

It just won't happen as the OP imagined. They want the patents alone. Specially the security/enterprise bit.

Posted via CB10

Did all these companies actually make bids or only expressed interest in looking? I was under the impression that as you said they expressed interest in the parts but nothing was actually serious.

[JeepBB]

Did all these companies actually make bids or only expressed interest in looking? I was under the impression that as you said they expressed interest in the parts but nothing was actually serious.

The truth is out there... but, as with all things BB, can be a little hard to pin down! LOL

IIRC, Lenovo did make an offer (the only actual bid?) that was blocked by the government (presumably on security grounds). There were several other rumoured tyre-kickers, but nothing was ever officially confirmed as to who they were. I saw several stories quoting BB sources who kept name-dropping various companies as being interested, but...

I do recall reading one of the tyre-kickers saying (anonymously) that far from proactively expressing interest in bidding for BB, they'd been invited by BB to come and take a look at the books... which they did. Mainly I think because it would have been rude not to, and because they'd probably never get that kind of insider access again!

But an official list of interested parties, and how many actual bids were made? ... I doubt it exists.

[GadgetTravel]

Apple tries to minimize their acquisitions, and when they do buy a company, it's usually a small one, and mostly for their patents/tech.

BB really doesn't have anything that Apple needs or wants, and is way too big of a company to buy solely for BB's patents, which aren't worth a lot to Apple at this point (I'm not saying they might not be worth more to someone else, just not to Apple).

Then consider that with all of Apple's past acquisitions, the company acquired is immediately integrated into Apple, and anything Apple doesn't use for Apple products is immediately sold off or discontinued. They definitely don't buy competitors and then keep them running.

Finally, Apple had the opportunity to bid for BB a month or two ago. They weren't interested.

The problem with these "scenarios" is that, while they might be wonderful for BB, no one ever looks at why the other company would want to give BB a whole bunch of money. What would they get out of the deal that they can't do themselves already?

Well, we are approaching the time of year when Santa might be making acquisitions.

[GadgetTravel]

I listed the benefits to apple in my post.

Except except for the BES related things and security (probably all patents more than anything) why would Apple want any of that? Why would they want BB10 for goodness sakes? Or have a "skunkworks" at BB? Apple can crank out major OS revisions a few times a year. BB10 was delayed how many years?

[DrBoomBotz]

Except except for the BES related things and security (probably all patents more than anything) why would Apple want any of that? Why would they want BB10 for goodness sakes. Or have a "skunkworks" at BB? Apple can crank out major OS revisions a few times a year. BB10 was delayed how many years?

I agree that blackberry can't execute to literally save its life. Its the most reasonable scenario that I could come up with where blackberry survives and makes handsets. If the q10 sales show that there is a market for querty handsets Samsung will likely make one. Apple lost their visionary and it may come to pass that iPhone 4 was the highpoint for them. They will start playing it safe and losing. Think of it as hybrid vigor when everyone else is looking for synergy.

[GadgetTravel]

No apology needed. Having one of the most profitable companies in the world team up with the pioneer of smartphones is intriguing. It may take on a different meaning than what you had envisioned though.

I don't see Apple teaming up with IBM, Nokia or Kyocera/Palm (the actual pioneers of the smartphone).

[DrBoomBotz]

I don't see Apple teaming up with IBM, Nokia or Kyocera/Palm (the actual pioneers of the smartphone).

Do you think Apple will operate the same way they did when jobs was alive?

[cgk]

Do you think Apple will operate the same way they did when jobs was alive?

Maybe not but nobody has advanced a sensible idea why apple would want more than IP and patents? The culture of apple doesn't seem to have shifted that much, they aren't going to offer an alternative to iOS.

Sent from my XT890 using Tapatalk

[nnik]

Hmm LMFAO..hmmmm

[GadgetTravel]

Do you think Apple will operate the same way they did when jobs was alive?

To some degree. They do have a strong corporate culture. But I don't see what any of that has to do with them having any interest in buying BlackBerry.

Posted via CB10

[DrBoomBotz]

Maybe not but nobody has advanced a sensible idea why apple would want more than IP and patents? The culture of apple doesn't seem to have shifted that much, they aren't going to offer an alternative to iOS.

Sent from my XT890 using Tapatalk

Ok I see the problem you want sensible ideas.
Sorry I don't do sensible.

Google bought Motorola for 12 and change.
They are now "Motorola A Google Company".
Motorola is still releasing Motorola branded handsets.
Motorola opened an office in KW a few months back to obtain Blackberry talent.

Off to my cellar now for some brandy.