RIM CEO Thorsten Heins has confirmed to German newspaper Die Welt that multiple options are on the table for the struggling platform and device manufacturer for it to shore up its short-term finances, including the sale of its hardware manufacturing division to other interested parties, as well as revisiting the possibility of licensing BB10 to third parties following an internal strategic review of operations expected to be completed before the launch of BB10 next month.
Below, the Heins quote from the newspaper on the possibility of selling the hardware division and licensing BB10 to third parties taken from the paper’s interview with the CEO, published earlier today:
“The main thing for now is to successfully introduce Blackberry 10. Then we’ll see”
The possibility of licensing BB10 to third party manufacturers is nothing new for RIM, as the company has consistently stated that it would be a serious possibility given the current weakness of its hardware sales, even in markets where the company still maintains a level of of strength, such as Southeast Asia, South Africa and Europe, given the gains in market share Android and iOS have made in those markets on the backs of Apple and Samsung respectively despite the popularity of the BlackBerry in those regions due to its messaging and email platforms.
RIM is expected to launch BB10 next week, first in a slate of media events starting in New York, with the official retail launches for the first hardware running the software expected next month. Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile and AT&T have signed on to officially support and back BB10 with their respective launches of hardware expected between next month and March.
The headline in the article is wrong. RIM is not considering. It is just saying it is leaving the option open to future decisions. It doesn’t have the time or resources to consider it currently as it has to focus on the launch of BB10.