Samsung Galaxy S Blackberry on the Way?

(Photo: REUTERS/Stelios Varias)
A BlackBerry smartphone user is pictured checking email in Washington, March 30, 2010.

By Vincent Funaro , Christian Post Reporter

January 18, 2012|9:18 am

The possibility of Samsung releasing a Galaxy Blackberry device seems to be getting greater as Research in Motion attempts to sell themselves to other smartphone makers such as Samsung and HTC.

RIM has been struggling as of late with Blackberry sales slowing down, and iPhone and Android market share growing at a rapid pace. Due to this, RIM is currently negotiating with other companies over licensing its software or selling the whole company to a new owner. If this occurs it is likely that the Blackberry line including the Torch, Curve and Bold will land on another company’s roster.

RIM could possibly be speaking to any party that might be interested in forming a possible partnership. The company is facing dramatic problems during recent quarters, but it still has a number of assets that other smartphone makers would be interested in.

One of these assets includes the Blackberry Messenger technology that has seemed to keep loyal Blackberry enthusiasts interested in the device throughout the years. If implemented into the Android software, it could bring a whole new group of consumers to the platform. It could also give Google the upper hand against Apple who recently introduces iMessage, a sub-par version of RIM’s BBM.

“We think some of this has already been started with RIM likely agreeing to license Blackberry 10 to Samsung, HTC, and possibly others,” Peter Misek, an analyst with Jefferies & Co, said. “This would help create a critical mass for the ecosystem and maintain RIM’s monthly service revenue, however, it puts more pressure on the hardware business in the short term.”

But Misek added that RIM’s licensing to other companies would prove profitable for the long-term as more and more people would get hooked on its ecosystem working on other state of the art devices.