BlackBerry Harbors Plenty of Valuable Assets for Potential Buyers

by Don Reisinger

There’s a reason BlackBerry hasn’t been hit with countless patent lawsuits like Apple or Samsung: its patent portfolio is too strong. Would-be buyers know that BlackBerry’s patents are strong, and they’d love to buy them to take the upper hand in whatever litigation they’re facing.

Although there’s been a bit of a “brain drain” at BlackBerry, the company still has quite a few people in the upper echelon who can effectively manage anything related to device production and software development. For companies trying to break into the mobile space, especially, that’s extremely important.

BlackBerry Enterprise Server could be an extremely important consideration for any company looking to acquire BlackBerry. The company’s enterprise offering is arguably the best platform on the market that allows an IT department to manage everything going on in the office. Look for Samsung, which has its own alternative called Knox, to eye Enterprise Server.

Sometimes, acquiring a company is about more than just the tangible things. And in that respect, BlackBerry’s loyal following is of some value to companies looking to acquire the device maker. Although BlackBerry’s following is dwindling, a large number of people still love the company and continue to buy its products. Any smart company would see value in that.

BlackBerry is still a successful device maker in emerging markets around the world. In parts of South America, BlackBerry is surprisingly popular. The company has also been able to deliver cheaper devices to other key markets. Considering the importance of emerging markets going forward, some companies could see value in that.

Any company trying to attract enterprise customers to its products would be smart to take a look at BlackBerry. Although its popularity is on the decline, the corporate world still invests heavily in BlackBerry products. Perhaps most importantly, BlackBerry has employees—including engineers and salespeople—who know how to work with enterprise customers.

Before Thorsten Heins became BlackBerry’s CEO, the company was reportedly eyeing a partnership with mobile carriers that would allow them to offload data-heavy tasks, like Short Message Service (SMS), to BlackBerry’s network. Believe it or not, BlackBerry’s network, which runs the company’s email, calendaring and BlackBerry Messenger, is exceedingly robust. And it shouldn’t surprise anyone if a carrier acquires that division for its own gain.

There are some companies that want to break into the mobile market, but don’t have the resources to pull it off. For those companies, acquiring BlackBerry seems like a good idea. The firm that acquires BlackBerry would have a built-in customer base in the mobile space and not need to invest so heavily in resources to get up and running. It would seem like a good idea at first blush.

Although BlackBerry’s devices haven’t been the most appealing, the company knows how to deliver hardware to customers. With that in mind, companies should remember that BlackBerry has the basic foundation in place to build high-quality hardware. What the company truly needs right now is some direction and an eye on design that a new owner could provide.

The topic of “goodwill” becomes somewhat important when evaluating BlackBerry’s value. The “BlackBerry” brand is still well-respected by consumers and enterprise customers. That means some companies could be considering acquiring solely the BlackBerry name to have immediate appeal on store shelves and establish their own presence in the marketplace.