Amazon (AMZN) Approaches RIM About Buyout? How About Nokia And Micrososft?

Update:

The Wall Street Journal reports that Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MFST) may also have consider a join bid.

The rumors that a company would offer to buy Canadian smartphone pioneer Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) have been circulating for months. It has progressively lost market share to Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android powered devices.

The potential suitor, it turns out, is one few expected. Reuters reports that Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) had interest in a transaction, but it may have fallen.

The news makes odd sense. Amazon has begun to stake out territory which sets it in direct competition with Apple and Google. Amazon.com has entered the tablet PC industry with the Kindle Fire–a direct rival to the iPad 2. Amazon has also created a streaming IP video service to compete with Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) and Apple TV.

Amazon has no logical way to compete with Android or the iPhone if it cannot buy both a hardware and original OS platform of its own. RIM has both, and 75 million subscribers it has built over the years. What RIM does not have is a compelling product and a ready marketing platform like Amazon.com, the world’s largest e-commerce site.

Douglas A. McIntyre