Is RIM being shopped to Samsung?

RIM has seen better days. After steadily declining in market share since the launch of the firstiPhone, the bottom fell out in 2011. The Blackberry Playbook, which the company was pinning its hopes on, flopped miserably while overall market share plummeted. Perhaps it’s no surprise then that the Canadian company is reportedly being shopped around. Specifically, RIM is targeting Samsung, hoping that the South Korean manufacturer will open its purse strings.

According to the report, all options are on the table for RIM. Though the company is supposedly seeking deals to license its software, the more likely scenario involves either the sell-off of select divisions or an outright sale.

Why Samsung? At this point, RIM’s most valuable asset may be Blackberry Messenger. If Sammy inked a deal to buy RIM (or at least some deal involving BBM), it could be a differentiating factor. Blackberry Messenger has taken a hit from the launch of Apple’s iMessage — which is essentially the same thing. Ironically, if Samsung were to purchase RIM, it could use BBM to compete with Apple.

This is all one big “if” though. The biggest obstacle to the deal won’t be surprising to anyone who has watched RIM for the last few years. The company is reportedly asking for much more than anyone is willing to pay. RIM’s board is suppsedly asking somewhere around $12 to $15 billion for an outright purchase. RIM’s market capitalization is, at this moment, about $8.5 billion — and many analysts think that figure is more than anyone would pay.

Despite the company’s recent lack of innovation and bullheaded reluctance to adapt with the times, it does still have a strong foothold in the business sector (though that’s shrinking too). If Samsung — or any other company — were to throw down billions to buy RIM, it would likely be the enterprise sector that would be the prime motivation. It’s a longshot that Blackberry can ever be a market leader again in the consumer realm, but new leadership may be intrigued by the prospect of its legion of worldwide business customers.