LONDON: It is in the air that Microsoft wants to buy Canadian mobile pioneer BlackBerry. The deal would apparently be worth roughly $7-billion. However, Microsoft isn’t the only interested party, with Xiaomi, Huawei and Lenovo apparently in the running as well.
The $7-billion price tag would rival Microsoft’s purchase of Nokia’s devices division in 2014, which had an initial price of $7.2-billion.
A purchase of the Canadian firm by any company would leave the buyer with a strong enterprise suite and a hefty patent portfolio.
But BlackBerry has turned things around in the first quarter, producing a profit despite reports of disappointing Classic and Passport sales.
