Reuters is today reporting that Samsung is in talks with BlackBerry for a potential US$7.5 billion buyout of the enterprise-focused Canadian phone company.
This isn’t the first time that the company has made headlines over a potential acquisition, though with BlackBerry moving away from the consumer market to an enterprise focus, it could be a great match for Samsung, who aren’t exactly known as a powerhouse in the business world.
Though don’t let your imagination get the better of you. While this report is from a trustworthy source, that doesn’t exactly mean that Samsung wants to start making phones with hardware keyboards. Instead the potential purchase may be forged as a way to gain access to some important patents, which would become useful in Samsung’s legal battle with Apple. BlackBerry has also partnered with Samsung in the past for Galaxy enterprise customers, which is another potential reason for the offer.
In a statement, BlackBerry denied the report, saying that they have “not engaged in discussions with Samsung with respect to any possible offer to purchase BlackBerry.” Although that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’ll never happen. After all, they are both still in discussions.
Stay tuned, I’d say. And still keep your fingers crossed for a BlackBerry Classic which runs Android.