The company hired JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and RBC Capital Markets in May to help it evaluate options. While Heins hasn’t ruled out a sale of the company, he has said RIM’s focus is on exploring strategic partnerships or software licensing deals. RIM is looking to the new BlackBerry 10 devices to reverse a sales slide, helping it win back market share lost to Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s iPhone and handsets that run Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Android software.
The strategic review continues “but there is no reason for us to rush to decide,” Heins was quoted as saying by Die Welt. “First and foremost, it’s important to bring BlackBerry 10 successfully to market.”
Gus Papageorgiou, a Scotiabank analyst, raised his rating from sector perform and said the device maker will deliver more than 29 million BlackBerry 10 devices in fiscal year 2014.