Should Microsoft buy the foundering RIM?

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rimcheapThat is what PaidContent postulates as RIM’s only way out of their current slow decline.

Calling the company the new Palm who needs to be rescued by some-one bigger, they call it the next big prize in the mobile industry’s consolidation.

There is no doubt the company is floundering, rapidly losing market share while finding its efforts to transition to new platforms met with indifference.

PaidContent notes that, much like Symbian, despite their massive market share and installed base, the company is just not exciting developers, the new King Makers in the mobile OS wars, and that even Windows Phone 7 is adding apps faster despite just being a few months in the market.

RIM acknowledged as much by supporting Android apps on their new tablet, but unfortunately their solution is far from ideal, leaving users with apps which do not display properly and which are designed for 4 inch screens on a 10 inch tablet.

The company recently saw their share price drop 12% after missing earning estimates, and their guidance for the future did not look  very encouraging either.

Microsoft has been rumoured for some time to be interested in buying RIM, and often where there is smoke there is fire.  A purchase of RIM would consolidate Microsoft’s mobile presence in enterprise, much like the Nokia partnership does in the consumer arena. At $29.5 billion for a company that is still making profit, it may even be a good investment.

Read more at PaidContent here.

More about the topics: microsoft, RIM