Selling Out to Sprint Would Be a Fitting End to RadioShack

[[Coi] Mr.CLuBBeR]

Shakespeare couldn't have wrote it better

RadioShack is reportedly in talks with Sprint to sell half its stores and shutter the rest. Should the deal go through as currently being discussed, the locations acquired by Sprint would operate under the wireless carrier's name, and with the other half going out of business, a recognizable brand that's been around for almost a century would suddenly cease to exist. It would be a tragic ending, and entirely appropriate, too.
As pointed out last month when talks of bankruptcy emerged, it was a series of missteps that brought RadioShack to this point. The company thrived for many years, but more recently was reduced to surviving the Internet era, and perhaps its biggest mistake was missing out on the maker movement in favor of mobile. Instead of shelves filled with 3D printing parts and hard-to-find electronic components, a typical RadioShack is now headlined by smartphones and tablets. It's a glorified kiosk with a spattering of interesting gear in back, behind the phones and batteries.
Granted, mobile devices are what's propping RadioShack up, but it's fool's gold, and so here are talking about a 94-year-old chain that is on the verge of extinction. To be clear, this isn't a foregone conclusion -- Bloomberg says the negotiations could still break down without a deal in place, or that the terms of the deal could still change. Even another bidder could jump into the mix, buy the chain, and continue its operations.
So yes, as Kevin Garnett famously screamed after winning his one and only NBA championship, "Anything is possible!" But what's likely is that RadioShack is nearing its end, and if Shakespeare could be given an opportunity to pen its ending, that chain's final act would be death by mobile, selling out to the very industry that took its soul.

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