Samsung denies blog report on takeover of RIM

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest maker of smartphones, said Tuesday that it does not have any interest in taking over Research In Motion Ltd., the BlackBerry maker.

The Boy Genius Report, a tech blog, said that RIM is pushing to sell part of its divisions or even the whole company. It said that RIM’s co-chief executive Jim Balsillie has been actively contacting companies and Samsung is the most likely to be interested in the takeover.

“The report is groundless, and we’ve not considered taking over the firm,” said a Samsung spokesman.

There have been market speculations that South Korea’s tech behemoth may be interested in buying the Canadian firm in a bid to diversify its operating system for its smartphone.

Samsung is seeking to combine its in-house mobile operating software “bada” with Tizen, a platform backed by Intel Corp. currently under development, in an apparent attempt to reduce its reliance on Google Inc.’s Android.

Samsung Electronics became the world’s largest producer of smartphones in the third quarter of 2011, trumping its rival Apple Inc.

Samsung said earlier this month that it is estimated to have logged a record operating profit of 5.2 trillion won ($4.5 billion) in the fourth quarter, aided by strong shipments of smartphones. 

(Yonhap News)