BlackBerry is trying to determine whether it should spin off its 60-million-user strong BlackBerry Messenger service to a separate company according to reports that cite the ever-popular “people familiar with the matter.”
The newly formed company would be reportedly known as BBM Inc. and will bring it further into the direct line of sight of other companies such as WhatsApp, Inc. and Kakao Corp.
BlackBerry said it does not comment on rumor or speculation.
a special committee continues to explore “strategic alternatives” including partnerships and sale
The report comes about two weeks after BlackBerry announced the hiring of a special committee that is exploring “strategic alternatives” that range from partnerships to a complete sale of the company.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard a rumor like this. Last June also saw a similar rumor, but that was before the launch of BlackBerry 10, which was believed by many to be the saving grace of the company.
A cross-platform iteration of BlackBerry Messenger for Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android is expected to be rolled out to customers in the next few weeks though no official launch date is known. The company is also rumored to be making a version available for PCs, but this has not been confirmed at this point.
While the future of the rest of the company remains unclear, it appears as though at least the BBM division will live on should the company decide to sell itself. We’ll keep digging around for more info and see if we can’t get a confirmation. Stay tuned.