sounds more like
Some investor hype before cashing out the pension funds
IBM is reportedly interested in snapping up the enterprise services division of troubled BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion. Well-placed sources whispered to Bloomberg that Big Blue could help Canadian mobile biz RIM by taking the unit off its hands, and has already made an informal approach about it. The enterprise services …
Since other Push services now exist and increasingly real IMAP & POP email as well as Web Mail and other phone maker have been offering Blackberry form factor and RIM client the phones are pretty much doomed.
Likely only IBM can leverage some value out of the Enterprise services, competing with Exchange and its cloudy alternatives.
My advice to RIM, sell the patents (which mostly should never have been approved) and the Services, then shut up shop rather than wasting more money on developing , marketing and making phones that are competing with Windows Mobile and Symbian for bottom place.
RIM needs to release a virtual blackberry app on Android and iPhone, with full encryption, full remote WIPE (for the virtual machine), etc. Support both, email, and blackberry messenger to start with, and maybe add business specific blackberry apps later.
That way enterprise customers using BES can look at other handset options, still fork over the $$$ for BES and get the "security" they want. The app could be a "very" expensive APP at ~$100 or even $150 per user.
You're right.
Trouble is, companies with a hardware-based history find it terribly difficult to admit that being a services company is actually better for their business. It would be the final nail in the coffin of their phone business, if the only main BB selling point were available on other platforms I reckon the sales decline there would set some sort of record.
I remember seeing one of the "Troubleshooter" series of programmes, in which Sir John Harvey-Jones would be sent into an ailing company to advise them. IIRC Apricot was the company in this one and his advice was to get the heck out of hardware and concentrate on the software and services side of things. They eventually did, but only after ignoring his advice, pressing on as they were, going comprehensively titsup.com and resurrecting the remains after finally getting shot of the hardware business.