Research in Motion would be happy to license their operating system to another manufacturer, says CEO Thorsten Heins in an interview with Die Welt (reported by TechCrunch. Really? Well that’s a bad idea right there. RIM may be many things, but they aren’t a Microsoft or a Google. Having their new BlackBerry 10 OS appear on rival handsets would bring RIM a huge amount of structural upheaval, for little immediate financial return and potentially damaging sales of their new handsets handsets that need to re-establish RIM as a major player in the smartphone world.

The first question would be who would actually use the OS? Samsung is sitting pretty with Android, and have Windows Phone in reserve. Nokia has said they are all in with Windows Phone, Motorola and Apple are committed to their ‘home’ operating systems, and the majority of smaller manufacturers are happy with off the shelf versions of Android.

Perhaps HTC would give it a go? They’ve tried everything else. But I don’t think the markets would give HTC time to work on a BB10 device and bring it to market, and HTC does not have enough cash reserves to go through a two year switch-over period in the way Nokia has (just about) managed from Symbian to Windows Phone.

Even if a manufacturer of note decides to come onboard, they’re not going to want to be at a competitive disadvantage to RIM’s own handsets. Chinese walls would have to be erected between software and hardware and that would kill one of RIM’s greatest strengths, namely the tight integration between the handset and the OS to create a level playing field for the licensee.

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Read also:

RIM May License BlackBerry 10 to Other Manufacturers (Mashable)

RIM Rebrands App Store To BlackBerry World As It Adds Music, Videos Ahead … (TechCrunch)

BlackBerry's Next Smartphone Is Just As Fast As The iPhone 5 (Business Insider)

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