Virtual Pants

Nice piece by Dan Frommer on RIM’s demise.  However, I disagree with this bit:

When I first argued in early 2009 that Microsoft should buy RIM and make its big mobile bet, I wrote that it would have probably cost $35 billion to get a deal done. Today, RIM is worth less than $5 billion; it shouldn’t take much more than that to bid. (Meanwhile, Microsoft has since realized that it needs to go into the hardware business to make money in mobile.) But what’s there? The cost of cleaning up the mess will be high, and the value of what’s left is low. Three years ago, there might have been a chance to salvage something useful. Today, the scraps are scraps.

RIM is cheaper than ever and is still ubiquitous in enterprise.  Microsoft’s Windows and Office are also ubiquitous in enterprise, but unfortunately, Microsoft missed the boat on enterprise mobile.  They can now buy what’s left of the boat on the cheap and slap on a fresh coat of paint (Windows Phone 8).  Enterprise customers who are already using the Windows platform could effortlessly transition to BlackBerry/Windows phones.  And the employees who are given Windows Phone 8 devices at work might actually like them enough to buy one for themselves.