Ford More Likely To Pick Google Over BlackBerry

Contrary to the

,

might

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in-car devices with technology developed by

. And if Ford did decide to drop Microsoft, BlackBerry wouldn't be the most likely replacement. "In my view, if they were to drop Microsoft they would pick Google because the Google ecosystem is much bigger," Tigress Financial Partners analyst Ivan Feinseth told Benzinga. While Google has an established navigation system (among other popular features), Feinseth said that BlackBerry is heavily known for offering a secure operating system. "I don't know how much in the messaging side you're really gonna do in the car," said Feinseth, referring to the value of BlackBerry's security. "They want to eliminate texting, so why would they have some kind of in-car messaging?"

If Ford chooses BlackBerry, Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Mark Moerdler thinks that it would be good for the mobile phone producer. But it wouldn't necessarily hurt Microsoft. "BlackBerry has been trying to do this for a while," Moerdler told Benzinga. "I was at an Adobe conference two years ago where they were showing their technology for cars. "Does it mean much? For Microsoft it means nothing because the [special version] of Windows business is blended into everything else. They're in so many different things it would probably be immaterial to them. For BlackBerry it would be good." Whether or not it would be good for Ford is a whole other story. Moerdler speculated that Ford and BlackBerry may sign a deal that allows the automaker to swap BlackBerry for Microsoft technology, if necessary. "And I think it's just the fact that BlackBerry is going to give them a pile of stuff that they weren't gonna get elsewhere," Moerdler added.

Feinseth said that one of the main things Ford has to consider is sustainability. "Even though this may be positive for BlackBerry, you don't want to partner with a company whose future is not strong," he said. "If they were to partner with BlackBerry and BlackBerry went out of business, [Ford] would be screwed." Disclosure: