Earlier in the month, Microsoft purchased Nokia. Not long after, computer giant Dell was sold back to the company’s founder. These were both expected, synergistic moves that made sense for all involved. Now, another long-rumored sale is coming to light as BlackBerry has entered an agreement to sell to Fairfax Financial.
Fairfax is already the single largest shareholder in the company formerly known as RIM. The goal is for the sale (at a bargain $4.7 billion) is to take the struggling handset maker private. Despite feeling similar, this is a drastically different sale. Dell has the household name that BlackBerry has long lost to Apple. Going private is merely a way to re-focus. As for Nokia, aside from theories that Microsoft purchased them to prevent Android-based Lumia handsets or to have CEO Stephen Elop a heartbeat away from Steven Balmer’s soon-to-be vacant position, it makes sense from a distribution and marketing standpoint.
BlackBerry, however, has long had the feel of a company circling the drain and this purchase continues that trend. With the current line of phones not getting the reception needed (no pun intended) and the lack of a tablet, BlackBerry isn’t playing the same game as the other companies in the mobile market. There’s a “circle the wagons” sense to this move.
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