Struggling smartphone maker Blackberry may be on the auction block again, as software giant Microsoft eyes a bid for the Canadian company. Microsoft recently lost a bid for rival software giant Salesforce and the latest move shows the company is seeking a growth by acqusition strategy to expand outside its core Operating System and Office markets.
Sources are claiming, however, that Microsoft is not alone in pursuing the enterprise communications leader, with upstart mobile rivals like Xiaomi, Lenovo and Huawei also interested in acquiring BlackBerry.
Microsoft has reportedly hired bankers to assess their chances of taking over BlackBerry, looking push hard into the mobile business solution segment and take advantage of Blackberry’s deep patent portfolio in the Internet of Vehicles (IoV), as well as mobile platform and communications segments.
While Microsoft eyes a full acquisition, Chinese smartphone manufacturers are mainly interested in investing in BlackBerry to improve their brand visibility across the U.S. and European markets.
The move comes just after BlackBerry declared that it will lay off hundreds of employees across the globe and will merge its device software, hardware and applications business.
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