BlackBerry Sells German R&D Center To Volkswagen
July 4th, 2014 11:22 AM
Share
BlackBerry has sold an R&D center in Germany to Volkswagen, with VW picking up both the employees and other assets.
Volkswagen Infotainment will take over BlackBerry’s facilities in Bochum, Germany, along with 200 employees. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. BlackBerry’s subsidiary QNX has established itself as a niche player in the in-car connectivity space, though it’s unclear whether there will be any links between the two companies.
Comments
Join the conversation
Hmm.. It would be interesting to see if VW could or would acquire QNX in it's entirety. For one, that would mean Blackberry wouldn't own their own platform; for another, it would mean VW would own the platform that a lot of other OEMs use. Personally, I'd be sad to see QNX go, but perhaps in the era of rtLinux on one end and Windows Embedded (or whatever Microsoft is called it this week) it's kind of squeezed.
There's more to auto electronics than just the radio-navi controls. The system-level stuff (engine management, emissions, etc) is still where QNX would shine.
Is this one sign of Blackberry's slow disappearance? Despite being cash rich, it's not looking good for them. It's too bad because I loved my Blackberrys. There was something distinctive to them compared to other smarts.
So now will I be able to fix every problem on a VW with a battery pull?