There was a time when BlackBerry’s phone unit was thriving. It ruled the corporate market, governments and militaries around the world chose BlackBerry phones for communications. In recent years the company’s market share has significantly declined. Devices from companies such as Apple and Samsung have not only beaten it out in the consumer market, they’ve also established a footing in the corporate market. BlackBerry recently announced that the board has formed a special committee which is probing “strategic alternatives,” a sale of the company is one of those alternatives. Analysts believe that BlackBerry will be broken up and sold in parts. Bloomberg reports today that if the company is broken up, its likely that the once mighty phone unit might offer “zero value.”
BMO Capital Markets believes that if a buyer were to shut down this unit, it would cost them roughly $800 million. Brian Huen of Red Sky Capital Management says that the company is “effectively killing its business” by saying that its up for sale. He says that nobody is interesting in acquiring the entire company and BlackBerry now seems to be in a position of doing anything to maximize value, which may include selling the company off in parts. BlackBerry’s patents are considered to be quite valuable, an analyst recently estimated that they might net the company up to $5 billion if a bidding war begins. A BlackBerry spokesperson declined to comment if the company is considering to sell itself off in parts.
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