RIM considering partnership with Microsoft, smartphones would run Windows Phone 8, says Reuters

RIM and Microsoft have declined comment, but yet again, another rumour that a partnership is in the works. According to “three sources familiar with the situation” the ailing RIM is seeking options of possibly scraping their BlackBerry 10 OS to embrace the Windows Phone 8 platform. Apparently Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s CEO, has reached out to RIM and attempted to structure a similar deal like the Nokia/Microsoft agreement. This would see Microsoft investing in the Waterloo-based company and in turn have RIM’s BlackBerry smartphones powered by the Windows Phone 8 OS. However, according to the sources, RIM’s board of directors want to see BlackBerry 10 come to life and the company stay an independent.

Yesterday RIM announced that the BlackBerry 10 launch will be delayed until Q1 2013. The root cause is from coding, specifically “the time required to manage the integration of such a large volume of incoming code and to prepare it for commercial use globally.” RIM’s CEO Thorsten Heins stated the “focus of the initial BlackBerry 10 launch is primarily on the premium smartphone segment, in both touch and full QWERTY. To be clear, we fully intend to lead the full QWERTY segment with BlackBerry 10 and expect the BlackBerry 10 QWERTY version to launch in close proximity to the initial full touch BlackBerry smartphone.”

Hopefully a BlackBerry Windows Phone 8 future is not true.

Source: Reuters