Should Microsoft Buy BlackBerry?

[xandros9]

BB10 sucks. Nobody use BBM.

You do realize that's practically what people say about Windows Phone as well, right?

 

[Spectrum90]

You do realize that's practically what people say about Windows Phone as well, right?

How does that change things for BlackBerry?

 

[Great deal]

Its all about Patents these days, Microsoft is one of the largest technology Patent owners out there, if you look at Apple they are nowhere in comparison. The only value BB has is in their IP and the question is, is it that IP worth the cost to MS? yes then go ahead and stick Elop in there to drive the price down and shape it for acquisition

 

[neo158]

Not buy but maybe enter into an agreement to bring apps and games across as native BB10 apps.

 

[Jazmac]

I don't think so. It would be perfect for sprint. They got radio shack recently, this would fit their business model...such as it is. lol

 

[SteveNoza]

BB10 sucks.

I'm with xandros9 on this, I still think BB 10 is the best mobile OS there is. But BlackBerry as a business is still a no buy as far as I'm concerned.

 

[djeire84]

I think they should then have windows phone on a physical qwerty keyboard and keep the the touch keyboard to their Lumia division. It would be nice to have the option of having windows phone with or without touch keyboard.

 

[nohra]

If we were talking BlackBerry of old, when most all business phones were BlackBerrys, I'd say go for it. Make Microsoft THE name in business mobile. But that train's left the station. Getting BlackBerry now, with how slim WP market share already is, would look too much like the Kmart/Sears merger - a marriage of two dying entities hoping somehow they can make it together.

Microsoft has too much going for W10 to risk picking up BB.

 

[nohra]

I think they should then have windows phone on a physical qwerty keyboard and keep the the touch keyboard to their Lumia division. It would be nice to have the option of having windows phone with or without touch keyboard.

I know I voted "no", but this would be a good reason to say yes! I've even looked into the Passport more than I would have expected just because it has a physical keyboard.

Although, now with WordFlow, I find my desire for a physical keyboard to be decreasing, but what I really want now is just some ARROW KEYS TO MOVE THE CURSOR AROUND!! I hate the method for moving it around in WP8.1 even more than I hated it in W8... that that was a tough thing for MS to achieve, but somehow they screwed it up even more!

 

[djeire84]

I know I voted "no", but this would be a good reason to say yes! I've even looked into the Passport more than I would have expected just because it has a physical keyboard.

Although, now with WordFlow, I find my desire for a physical keyboard to be decreasing, but what I really want now is just some ARROW KEYS TO MOVE THE CURSOR AROUND!! I hate the method for moving it around in WP8.1 even more than I hated it in W8... that that was a tough thing for MS to achieve, but somehow they screwed it up even more!

Yes yes and yes. A functioning cursor would be good. It does however come on Windows Phone 10. I had the tech preview and even that has its problems. Is it too much to ask? I think it is. Lol

 

[xandros9]

How does that change things for BlackBerry?

Have you touched Blackberry 10? (in the same way many WP nay-sayers never used WP)
I have, and I can assure you it does not "suck," in the same way Windows Phone does not "suck" like many claim.
There's few barriers between me and switching to BB10 for that matter actually.

 

[Spectrum90]

Have you touched Blackberry 10? (in the same way many WP nay-sayers never used WP)
I have, and I can assure you it does not "suck," in the same way Windows Phone does not "suck" like many claim.
There's few barriers between me and switching to BB10 for that matter actually.

Opinions.

Good for you if you switch to BB10, but hurry up because sales are falling of a cliff. For this quarter the estimates are 700k-900k units. In a couple of quarters it could be zero, specially if they're acquired.

 

[theefman]

Guess they should if they want to see if 3 turkeys make an eagle..... otherwise its a terrible idea, adding another failed smartphone company to their (already failed) portfolio is pointless.

 

[ClixT]

No even though BB has patents that may prove useful to MS.. They just bought Nokia, and still recovering from it..

 

[Tips_y]

My answer is a resounding NO.

 

[ashram]

think blackberry has a better chance as a services company rather than being a hardware company. As far as hardware goes, people want what they can use at both home and work, and not many people still use blackberry devices personally. I can honestly say I see more windows phones in use than blackberry phones. With that said, with blackberry rolling out their services to Android, IOS and WP, the reasoning behind making hardware is dwindling day by day.

 

[boltz82]

This doesn't even seem plausible to me.

To those here though stating how Blackberry sucks, failing company, etc. I believe you are incorrect. At least in my opinion. Blackberry clearly did many things wrong and rested on their laurels back when they were the king. They fell behind the times considerably. However, BB10 is a fantastic operating system. I think too many have heard all of the nay saying over the years and all too quickly jump on the bandwagon of hating Blackberry without ever having tried BB10. And I don't mean you picked one up at your local AT&T store for five minutes. I mean actually used the phone for a while. There is a lot of fluidity within the OS and a lot of shortcuts and actions that make sense. I owned a Passport for a while and enjoyed it. A very solidly built, premium feeling phone. However, in the end, I prefer the UI of WP.

I don't see a situation in which Blackberry sells to Microsoft. Especially at $7M. John Chen has proven that things are turning around. He has done a fantastic job at the helm and I can see reasons for them to be optimistic.

I can see why Microsoft would want BB though. They IP/ Patents BB has is extensive. I can see that as a reason why, probably the only reason why. QNX alone is worth $700M. On a personal note, if Microsoft does buy BB, my shares would go up in BB which is a positive.

 

[Spectrum90]

This doesn't even seem plausible to me.

To those here though stating how Blackberry sucks, failing company, etc. I believe you are incorrect. At least in my opinion. Blackberry clearly did many things wrong and rested on their laurels back when they were the king. They fell behind the times considerably. However, BB10 is a fantastic operating system. I think too many have heard all of the nay saying over the years and all too quickly jump on the bandwagon of hating Blackberry without ever having tried BB10. And I don't mean you picked one up at your local AT&T store for five minutes. I mean actually used the phone for a while. There is a lot of fluidity within the OS and a lot of shortcuts and actions that make sense. I owned a Passport for a while and enjoyed it. A very solidly built, premium feeling phone. However, in the end, I prefer the UI of WP.

I don't see a situation in which Blackberry sells to Microsoft. Especially at $7M. John Chen has proven that things are turning around. He has done a fantastic job at the helm and I can see reasons for them to be optimistic.

I can see why Microsoft would want BB though. They IP/ Patents BB has is extensive. I can see that as a reason why, probably the only reason why. QNX alone is worth $700M. On a personal note, if Microsoft does buy BB, my shares would go up in BB which is a positive.

BB10 has discoverability problems. Gestures aren't intuitive, people has to be trained or read instruction to use the device. The graphical aspect of the UI is boring, they improved a bit in the latest versions but It's still unattractive.
Personally I don't like hubs and I think most people don't like them. A specialized app for each service is the most common usage pattern.
I don't think BB10 adds much compared to the other OSs. In general, the OS is quite irrelevant these days. BlackBerry doesn't have other assets that could integrate into the OS to create more value. If BB10 disappears few would notice.

The last quarter was pretty awful, the growth of the software unit disappointed and Chen showed a lot weakness in the EC, admitting that the goal of $600 million in software revenue is impossible to reach organically. The stock crashed after that and the current stock price is mostly explained by the acquisition rumors. Things could change in the following quarters, but from what is publicly known now, Chen is failing.

I don't think BlackBerry's patents worth that much. In that case, what is stopping BlackBerry from unleashing that value? IP revenue is insignificant at the moment.

 

[fatclue_98]

BB10 has discoverability problems. Gestures aren't intuitive, people has to be trained or read instruction to use the device. The graphical aspect of the UI is boring, they improved a bit in the latest versions but It's still unattractive.
Personally I don't like hubs and I think most people don't like them. A specialized app for each service is the most common usage pattern.
I don't think BB10 adds much compared to the other OSs. In general, the OS is quite irrelevant these days. BlackBerry doesn't have other assets that could integrate into the OS to create more value. If BB10 disappears few would notice.

The last quarter was pretty awful, the growth of the software unit disappointed and Chen showed a lot weakness in the EC, admitting that the goal of $600 million in software revenue is impossible to reach organically. The stock crashed after that and the current stock price is mostly explained by the acquisition rumors. Things could change in the following quarters, but from what is publicly known now, Chen is failing.

I don't think BlackBerry's patents worth that much. In that case, what is stopping BlackBerry from unleashing that value? IP revenue is insignificant at the moment.

As you wrote to xandros9 earlier - opinions. I happen to OWN a Passport and I can unequivocally tell you that those issues you list are totally non-existent.

"Things could change in the following quarters, but from what is publicly known now, Chen is failing." Two consecutive positive earnings reports and you call that failing? Don't bother explaining.

 

[Laura Knotek]

BB10 has discoverability problems. Gestures aren't intuitive, people has to be trained or read instruction to use the device. The graphical aspect of the UI is boring, they improved a bit in the latest versions but It's still unattractive.
Personally I don't like hubs and I think most people don't like them. A specialized app for each service is the most common usage pattern.
I don't think BB10 adds much compared to the other OSs. In general, the OS is quite irrelevant these days. BlackBerry doesn't have other assets that could integrate into the OS to create more value. If BB10 disappears few would notice.

The last quarter was pretty awful, the growth of the software unit disappointed and Chen showed a lot weakness in the EC, admitting that the goal of $600 million in software revenue is impossible to reach organically. The stock crashed after that and the current stock price is mostly explained by the acquisition rumors. Things could change in the following quarters, but from what is publicly known now, Chen is failing.

I don't think BlackBerry's patents worth that much. In that case, what is stopping BlackBerry from unleashing that value? IP revenue is insignificant at the moment.

As you wrote to xandros9 earlier - opinions. I happen to OWN a Passport and I can unequivocally tell you that those issues you list are totally non-existent.

I do agree that there is a learning curve to the gestures. From what I understand, when a new device is turned on, there is an on screen tutorial that pops up.

I tried the Z10 when it was new at a T-Mobile store. It was already on and set up. I fumbled around for 15 minutes, unable to do much of anything. I set it down, never to touch another BlackBerry device.

I had been a user of legacy BBOS devices previously, but I was clueless with BB10.

I've always been able to pick up and use any Android, iPhone, or Windows Phone without needing to read a manual.

If I gave up that quickly, I'm sure others did too.

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