Research in Motion’s first quarter earnings were less than impressive. News of layoffs and a delay in its upcoming BlackBerry 10 platform had the unsurprising result of speculations being formed regarding the company’s future.
According to Reuters and their “people familiar with the situation,” the options being considered by the RIM board include the possibility of following former co-CEO Jim Balsillie’s plan to open up its network to others and / or or sell it outright.
An alternative path that many business users say makes more sense comes in the form of a Microsoft partnership. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has reportedly been in talks with the BlackBerry maker to do what Nokia did last year and bring their wares and their BBM to the Windows Phone platform, forgoing the BB10 platform altogether. That choice is reportedly less attractive to RIM because it would mean giving up technology independence, but in light of analysts’ predictions that RIM will continue its downward spiral into the realm of lost toys, it awaits to be seen how unattractive such an option would look by the time next quarter’s numbers roll around.