Research In Motion CEO Thorsten Heins has previously considered the idea of licensing the company’s software in the run-up to launch of BlackBerry 10. Heins has now revealed that he’s also open to getting out of the manufacturing business entirely and sell RIM’s handset operations.
In an interview with German newspaper Die Welt, Heins said that RIM would consider selling its smartphone operations or licensing its software to other companies. Heins had previously stated that all options were on the table related to the licensing of BB10, but he now says that a sale is on the table as well. Of course, any potential change in RIM’s business model is contingent on the successful launch of BlackBerry 10, which is set to debut January 30. If BB10 manages to regain some of RIM’s lost market share or at least stop the trend of customers abandoning the platform for Android or Apple iOS, it would make BlackBerry a more attractive product.
