By Kim Yoo-chul
Samsung Electronics said Wednesday it has no plans to buy BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM).
``Samsung can confirm that rumors over the acquisition of the Canadian handset manufacturer are totally groundless,’’ said company spokesman Lee Seung-jun.
It has also denied interest in using RIM’s distinctive mobile operating system (OS) through a possible licensing deal.
Samsung recently said it has no plans to purchase Hewlett-Packard’s WebOS software.
It has already used its own mobile operating system called Bada, while manufacturing smartphones based on Microsoft’s Windows OS.
``We will invest more to shore up our needs rather than through acquisitions,’’ said a Samsung executive.
The Korean firm said it will raise money by issuing its first overseas corporate bonds since 1997.
The money will be used to expand the output of mobile application processors (APs) at its U.S. factory located in the Texan capital of Austin.
Since its introduction in 2009, Bada has gained a 2 percent global share.
Samsung believes its software has been ``positively received,’’ though its share is still small compared to Android and Apple’s own iOS system.
Samsung executive Kang Tae-jin reportedly said that there is a plan to merge Bada software into Tizen, an Intel-backed open-based source which has recently been launched by the Linux Foundation.
This move would allow the firm to keep tapping into the significant base of existing Bada developers, according to Samsung executives.
It plans to spend some 3.2 trillion won this year for the purpose of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), up from last year’s 2.9 trillion won, according to the company.
``Samsung has keen intent on M&As but the size will be small and focused on territories that haven’t been explored so far,’’ said the company executive.