The Canadian Industry Minister opined that the future of Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) is uncertain amid a very aggressive telecommunications sector during an interview with Reuters on Monday. Despite the uncertainty, the Minister hoped that the smartphone manufacturer will continue to become Canada’s national champion.
According to Industry Minister Christian Paradis, “We never know what can happen but I’ve said – and I truly believe this – I hope BlackBerry will continue to be a Canadian champion in the world, that it grows organically.”
Paradis emphasized that his statement regarding the future of Blackberry or Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) is just an opinion and he does not know what will actually happen and reiterated the aggressiveness of the telecommunication sector.
“This is my opinion here but that being said, we don’t know what might happen. The market is very aggressive. When you talk about the telecoms sector… this is a very aggressive sector,” said Paradis.
During the interview, Paradis also commented regarding the report of a French newspaper last week that China’s Lenovo Group (HKG:0992) is considering the possibility of acquiring Blackberry or Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) in the future. According to him, if the Chinese device manufacturer submits a proposal to take over Blackberry, the Canadian government would evaluate its bid using the national security guidelines, which block foreign government-owned companies from controlling crucial parts of the country’s economy.
Paradis said, “As the industry minister, I don’t want to send a signal and I don’t want it to look like I prejudged a deal or not.”
Analysts believed that it is unlikely that the Ottawa government would approve the sale of Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) (TSE:BB) to a Chinese entity citing that politicians would oppose any acquisition. Last year, politics became a major threat to the bid of CNOOC Limited (HKG:0883) (NYSE:CEO), a Chinese state-owned oil company to acquire Nexen Inc. (NYSE:NXY) (TSE:NXY), an oil and gas producer based in Calgary for $15.1 billion.
Meanwhile, Blackberry CEO Thorstein Heins criticized the iPhone software is outdated during an interview with the Australian Financial Review. However, Heins commended Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) for doing a great job in introducing touch devices in the industry. He said, “Apple did a fantastic job in bringing touch devices to market. They did a fantastic job with the user interface; they are a design icon. There is a reason why they were so successful, and we actually have to admit this and respect that. The rate of innovation is so high in our industry that if you don’t innovate at that speed you can be replaced pretty quickly…..The user interface on the iPhone, with all due respect for what this invention was all about, is now five years old.”
