News

Lenovo to acquire BlackBerry, sources claim

Although mostly rumours at the moment, the PC manufacturer may be about to make its BlackBerry acquisition official

22 Oct 2014

Rumours are re-circulating that BlackBerry is about to be acquired by PC manufacturer Lenovo.

Three separate sources have claimed the deal may be signed once and for all in the coming weeks. CBC, the Toronto Sunand theFinancial Post all said the acquisition may be completed this week, although it's only speculation and neither company has commented.

Suggestions that Lenovo will buy BlackBerry were made in early 2013, although no deal occured. At the time, Wong Wai Ming, CFO of Lenovo, said: "We are looking at all opportunities - RIM [Blackberry's former company name] and many others. We'll have no hesitation if the right opportunity comes along that could benefit us and shareholders."

The deal was never sealed because the Canadian government blocked the acquisition over national security concerns. Much of Canada's national infrastructure relies on the smartphone platform.

BlackBerry has experienced a turbulent couple of years, ever since its market share dive-bombed as iOS and Android exploded in popularity.

The company has tried to rekindle consumer and business interest but to little avail.

The company released its BlackBerry Passport smartphone earlier this year, which reverts to some of the older-style BlackBerry devices with a full Qwerty keyboard. It does, however, include a touchscreen but the square design will no doubt have the Marmite effect on users - people will either love it or hate it.

In an attempt to regain some interest in its services, which were always the company's USP, BlackBerry also launched its BBM free messaging service on Android and iOS to compete with other cross-platform services such as WhatsApp and Viber.

Neither BlackBerry nor Lenovo have made a statement about whether the acquisition will be going ahead this time.