RIM tieup not in the cards for Samsung

South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. said on Thursday it has not considered acquiring Research In Motion (RIM-T) or licensing the embattled BlackBerry phone maker's new mobile operating system.

A lack of support from potential partners such as Samsung could mean more trouble for RIM, which is seeking various options to turn around its embattled business.

Shares of RIM had risen more than 5 percent early on Wednesday after an influential analyst said it may license the BlackBerry 10 system to Samsung.

Jefferies analyst Peter Misek said RIM's new BB10 phones won't disrupt the dominance of Apple and Google in the smartphone wars and its best option would be to sign a licensing agreement with Samsung.

"Given recent management comments in the press, it now appears that RIM is realizing what Wall Street has been saying for some time: they are a subscale manufacturer and desperately need a partner," he says in a recent note to clients. "We believe RIM is attempting to revive discussions with Samsung regarding a BB10 licensing deal."

Samsung, the world's largest smartphone maker, is the biggest seller of phones that run on Google Inc.'s Android system, but it also makes phones using Microsoft's Windows as well as its proprietary software called bada.

Its strategy of making phones with multiple platforms had raised speculation it may also license BlackBerry's system to stretch its lead over rivals such as Apple and diversify away from Google, which now owns a handset manufacturing business after acquiring Motorola Mobility.

RIM plans to use its new operating system, known as BB10, in a next-generation line of BlackBerrys expected to launch early next year. It is considered RIM's last hope of reversing BlackBerry's steady decline in market share.

RIM's shares have fallen more than 80 percent since the beginning of 2011 when Apple and other smartphone makers started to widen their lead on RIM, which once dominated the business.

Shares in Samsung closed up 1.5 percent on Thursday, versus a 2-percent rise in the broader market.