Research In Motion to move away from handset production

Research In Motion (RIM), producer of the Blackberry smartphone, is considering the separation of its handset and messaging divisions.

Popular Blackberry Messenger (BBM) is RIM’s greatest asset, and in order to save the struggling company, a decision could be made to split operations in two with a view to selling off the handset unit as a separate business.

Speaking to the Telegraph, Robert Cozza, Gartner research director, said: “BlackBerry Messenger was what kept RIM alive if I’m honest. In emerging markets and in the UK, it was the reason why certain segments of the population, particularly the youth, bought BlackBerry handsets.”

The emergence of the iPhone and increasing proliferation of Android-powered smartphones saw RIM’s market share fall to 7% of the market in the first three months of the year. It is predicted to drop further, to just 3% by 2016.

Facebook and Amazon have been touted as potential buyers, and it is unclear yet whether RIM would be sold as one entity or offered separately to interested parties.

In the last quarter of 2011, RIM posted a decrease in revenue of 19%, along with its first loss in seven years, of $125 million. The latest quarterly figures are expected to be released on Thursday.