Samsung dispels RIM purchase rumours

Research In MotionResearch In Motion stock today rose as much as 11% in large part due to rumours that Samsung was considering purchasing the struggling company. By the end of the day, Samsung moved to dispel the rumour, a move that sent the stock back down some before the close of markets. According to Samsung spokesman James Chung: “We haven’t considered acquiring the firm and are not interested in (buying RIM).” He added that RIM had not even approached them to discuss this.

Samsung also dispelled rumours that it was interested in licensing RIM’s operating system.

Despite the denials, some analysts think that the two companies have held some discussions over a licensing deal rather than a buyout. Such a move could give Samsung access to RIM’s 75 million BlackBerry users and also limit its dependency on Android. But it would also mean supporting one more operating system at a time when it already offers devices running Android, Windows Phone and bada.

With other rumours pointing to Microsoft, Nokia and even Amazon thinking of buying RIM, could it be that everyone is waiting for the stock to drop further before making a bid?

Read more: Reuters