This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Lenovo linked with a BlackBerry buyout. In January 2013, reports quoting Lenovo’s chief financial officer showed the company was certainly interested in pursuing BlackBerry. The company even admitted there had been some preliminary discussions between the two firms. Fast-forward to October 2013, and yet more rumors of Lenovo’s interest in BlackBerry appeared.
Subsequently, Lenovo purchased Motorola from Google, giving it a well-known international brand with which it can increase sales from its already strong smartphone division. However, it’s hard to imagine that Lenovo would want to splash out on a new mobile company before the Motorola deal has even been finalized.
Acting like a spend-thrift isn’t the only reason a new BlackBerry/Lenovo deal sounds a little unlikely. BlackBerry is in the midst of a comeback (of sorts), following the launch of the Passport, and the upcoming release of the BlackBerry Classic. If things are about to turn around for the company, a sale may not be at the top of its list. CEO John Chen recently said he’s concentrating on “building value,” at BlackBerry, which some analysts predict will precede an eventual sale. However, Chen has also specifically said any offer from a Chinese firm would “probably be rejected,” due to “regulatory concerns.”
Given the anonymity of the source, and the well-publicized problems of a BlackBerry sale to a Chinese company, we’d treat this rumor with suspicion until a more official statement is made.
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