no deal Samsung ain't interested in buying RIM

[Muhammad Farrukh]

Samsung Electronics Co said on Wednesday it was not interested in taking over Research In Motion after shares of the BlackBerry smartphone maker jumped more than 10 percent following a tech blog report that it was seeking to sell itself to the South Korean firm.

"We haven't considered acquiring the firm and are not interested in (buying RIM)," Samsung spokesman James Chung said.

Chung also said Samsung had not been approached by the Canadian firm for a takeover.

The Boy Genius Report website cited an unidentified source as saying that RIM co-chief executive Jim Balsillie was meeting with companies interested in either licensing its software or buying a part or all or RIM, with Samsung leading the pack.

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Rumor spread like wildfire today that the beleaguered RIM is looking for a buyer, and that Samsung was chief among the possible suitors. Samsung responded quickly and definitively, telling Reuters that "we haven't considered acquiring the firm and are not interested in (buying RIM)." BGR originally reported this morning that in addition to discussing licensing its software, RIM is in favor of selling parts or all of the company, and that Samsung was its buyer of choice. Whether that's true or not we don't yet know, but what's now loud and clear is that Samsung isn't interested in what's coming out of Waterloo. Samsung spokesman James Chung also said that the company hadn't even been approached by RIM to discuss such a takeover.

These rumors aren't the first of their kind for either company. In September, Samsung denied rumors that it was interested in buying HP's webOS in similarly categorical fashion, and RIM's list of rumored buyers has already grown to include Microsoft, Nokia, and Amazon. Whether not any of the above are interesting in licensing BlackBerry 10 from RIM remains to be seen. What is clear is that while the entire company might be ripe for the taking, nobody is jumping at the opportunity.

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