X

RIM, Intel ink deal, report says

Shares in the BlackBerry maker rose on the news, reported by CNBC, that it would use Intel's battery-saving chip technology.

Reuters
2 min read
Research In Motion, maker of the BlackBerry e-mail pager, has agreed to a joint development deal with the world's largest chip maker, Intel, CNBC television said Monday, pushing RIM shares up nearly 5 percent.

Shares of the Waterloo, Ontario-based company closed up by 4.50 Canadian dollars, or 5.1 percent, at 93.09 Canadian dollars on the Toronto Stock Exchange. On the New York Stock Exchange, shares rose $4.21, or 5.75 percent, to $77.49.

Intel shares were up 41 cents, or 1.6 percent, at $26.06 on the Nasdaq.

CNBC reported that Research In Motion had agreed to a deal to use battery-saving chip technology from Intel. In return, Research in Motion will support Intel's push to encourage WiMax technology, a long-distance wireless communications technology.

"This is considered a rumor at this point and they wouldn't comment on it," Meejin Annan-Brady, an external spokeswoman for Research In Motion in New York, told Reuters.

A representative of Intel was not immediately available for comment.

"Rumors have it that RIM will announce a deal with Intel to use their chips," Sean Flynn, options trader at Timber Hill, a unit of Interactive Brokers, told Reuters. "Options volume is heavy with the bias on upside call buying," he said.

Another analyst said the two companies were expected to announce a deal this week at the Intel Developer Forum, the company's annual conference for computer hardware developers.

"We are expecting some positive news out of an Intel Developer Forum being held this week in San Francisco which might involve" RIM, said options strategist Paul Foster at financial-information Web site theflyonthewall.com.

Late Monday, a combined total of 41,815 calls and 30,306 puts on Research In Motion traded in the U.S. options market, outpacing its average daily volume of 36,001 contracts, according to market research company Track Data.

Story Copyright © 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.