Microsoft and Nokia considered a joint bid for ailing RIM

Amazon wasn’t the only company interested in snapping up BlackBerry maker Research in Motion.

Microsoft and Nokia, now close partners thanks to Nokia’s adoption of Windows Phone 7, also considered a joint bid for RIM, the Wall Street Journal reports. It’s not clear if the discussions were anything more than a pipe dream, as the WSJ notes executives from all three companies often get together to discuss other partnerships.

With both Microsoft and Nokia struggling to turn the Windows Phone platform into a contender, it wouldn’t really make sense for them to snap up RIM, a former smartphone giant that’s now weighed down by an out-of-date mobile OS.

Last week, RIM’s co-CEOs, Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, announced that the company’s long-awaited BlackBerry 10 devices won’t appear until the end of 2012 due to chipset delays. BlackBerry 10 (formerly BBX) is RIM’s next-generation OS based on the QNX software that powers the BlackBerry PlayBook. It’s RIM’s best chance to take on iOS and Android, but come the end of 2012 it may arrive too late to make a difference.

News of the delay followed RIM’s third quarter earnings report, in which the company reported a massive revenue drop over last year.

The WSJ says RIM has also discussed licensing its software with Samsung and HTC — though that’s unlikely, since those manufacturers are already juggling multiple smartphone platforms. RIM may find some success licensing its OS to smaller manufacturers, though it’s going to have a hard time competing against Android’s free price tag.