Microsoft To Buy Research In Motion? Uh, I Don't Think So

Well, here we go again.

The Financial Post is reporting yet another breakout of rumors thatMicrosoft might want to buyResearch In Motion.

The story apparently was spurred by an item on the financial news site Benzinga which asserted that there is chatter Microsoft might invest $3.5 billion in RIMM. Last month, the talk was that maybe Samsung would buy RIMM. I didn’t believe that one, and I’m not buying this one.

New RIM CEO Thorsten Heins recently indicated that all options are on the table for the BlackBerry maker, which is basically an engraved invitation to speculate in ridiculous nonsense. But let’s get real. It certainly is possible that Microsoft could find value in RIM’s patent portfolio, although some analysts are skeptical that there’s a lot of there there. I can’t see why Microsoft would want the rest. They’re not going to want the company’s crumbling handset business, and they certainly don’t need the BlackBerry OS; they already have an OS. (Plus, Microsoft is above all else a builder of operating systems; do you really think they’d buy one from someone else?) And think strategically: Microsoft has everything to gain from the demise of RIM, and nothing to lose. Were RIM to disappear further into handset irrelevancy, it creates an opening for Microsoft to secure its position as the primary alternative to Apple and Android devices. For Microsoft, there’s no logic at all in rescuing RIM from its continued slide into the mire.

No, this strikes me as desperate speculation, former bulls looking for an exit strategy, not anything that is logical or based on reality.

Nothing else to see here.

Move along.

RIMM is up 12 cents at $13.05.