BlackBerry in Sales Talks with Google, Samsung

Posted on Oct 7th 2013

BlackBerry announced last month a potential 4.7-billion buyout from Canadian holding company Fairfax Financial, putting the future of its smartphone business in question. This week it has also been reported that BlackBerry has opened talks with several major tech companies, including Google and Samsung for backup sales offers if the Fairfax deal falls through.

BlackBerry is reportedly asking to hear from Google, Samsung, Intel, LG, and Cisco by next week, though it's not clear which of the them, if any, will actually bid on BlackBerry, and if the bids will be for the company as a whole or for a particular portion of its business.

The BlackBerry board is trying to push a sale through by the November at the earliest, prompting questions about the future of the company’s cellular and enterprise software business. In September the company announced a retreat from the consumer smartphone business, instead shifting to focus exclusively on “prosumer” and enterprise products and services. This indicates that BlackBerry phones and services will still remain available for corporate users, but with a sized-down smartphone selection.