Samsung allegedly is considering buying RIM

KOREAN PHONE MAKER Samsung is considering buying the ailing Blackberry maker Research in Motion (RIM), according to reports.

Samsung has denied the claims, while RIM told us it "does not comment on rumour or speculation".

According to Bloomberg, RIM shares rose eight percent after a report at BGR that Samsung had expressed an interest. The report said that the Korean company and RIM have not yet made a deal because the price was too high.

RIM's stock has jumped at least five percent more than 10 times since speculation arose in August that a decline in its valuation would result in a takeover.

Whether the rumours are true we don't know, but things are certainly looking very different for RIM, which a year ago was putting pressure on smartphone makers such as LG as it placed in the top five mobile phone makers for the first time.

However, a service outage last year tarnished the firm's reputation and its low cost Blackberry Curve 8500 smartphone failed to compete with more interesting offerings from rivals.

Samsung said, "Media reports of Samsung Electronics' buyout of Research in Motion are not true. Samsung is not considering the acquisition of RIM." µ