RIM hires new CEO! Balsillie and Lazaridis are out!!

[HeyCori]

RIM's Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis are out, COO Thorsten Heins to take over -- Engadget

After months upon months of investor backlash, RIM's making some significant changes. And by "significant," we mean the co-chief executives (and founders) are out. As of tomorrow, both Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis will be stepping away from the top posts, enabling "a little-known company insider" to take over, according to The Wall Street Journal. Purportedly, this is all part of "a board and management shuffle," with COO Thorsten Heins to step into what many expect to be an impossible role to thrive in. The Globe and Mail asserts that he'll be immediately seeking a Chief Marketing Officer to polish up the company's severely damaged brand, and he "will not rule out licensing RIM's new BlackBerry 10 operating system to other handset manufacturers." In an interview with the outlet, he stated that he'll be executing "flawlessly" and with vigor -- not unexpected, but still, bold words.

Startlingly, Heins also asserted that he's "confident" in the existing lineup of BlackBerry handsets and the software update recently made available for the PlayBook; call us crazy, but he'd be wise to just spout out reality and make clear that RIM's existing lineup is nowhere near competitive in the grand scheme of things. As for Mike and Jim? The former will become "vice-chair of the board with special duties to examine innovation," with the latter becoming a traditional director. In an interesting move, outgoing co-CEO Lazaridis stated the following: "I think it's that unwillingness to sacrifice our long-term value for short-term gain. That's why we didn't choose Android. That's why we decided to build the future on QNX." So wait, RIM had the chance to choose Android... and didn't? No time like the present to reach back and shake things up, Mr. Thorsten.

 

[Duvi]

Crazy stuff... they'll still be running the show. Just needed a new face.

 

[HeyCori]

Engadget says a new CEO isn't enough.

Editorial: RIM's new CEO isn't the shakeup it needed -- Engadget

Some think licensing the BB OS is the next logical step. If it wasn't a headache before to get an software update on your BlackBerry I can't imagine how much worse it's going to be with multiple vendors and hardware configurations.

 

[HeyCori]

I lol'ed

 

[jalb]

Engadget says a new CEO isn't enough.

Editorial: RIM's new CEO isn't the shakeup it needed -- Engadget

Some think licensing the BB OS is the next logical step. If it wasn't a headache before to get an software update on your BlackBerry I can't imagine how much worse it's going to be with multiple vendors and hardware configurations.

I don't think it will be enough either, especially with the video posted today:

Meet Thorsten Heins the New President and CEO of Research In Motion - YouTube

This does not sound like a company that realizes how terrible their operations have failed over the last few years, especially when you take into account that the previous CEO's were not let go, but rather put into other leadership positions. They seem to think they have a marketing problem, and I personally believe it runs deeper than that.



Quotes from "new" CEO (who is the old COO, btw):

"We have taken this to totally new heights and that journey isn't over yet."
"If we continue doing well what we're doing, I see no problems with us being in the top three players worldwide in the next years in wireless."
"At the very core of RIM is the innovation. We always think ahead. We always think forward. We sometimes think the unthinkable. And that is fantastic."
"Internally, from a process perspective, I think we need to get a bit more disciplined in our own processes."
"We are a great innovative company, but sometimes we innovate too much while we're building a product."
"What we need to get a bit better at here is to have a little bit more of an ear toward the consumer. I want the strengthen this by bringing really good marketing expertise in."
"...With the 'Be Bold' campaigns, starting right now, I find this really exciting. I'm getting good feedback and we want to continue driving this."
"Don't lose focus on what the present is. Congratulations to the team; we've seen great success with PlayBook 2.0 at CES. We are heading absolutely in the right direction."
"BB 10, needless to say, we have to ship on time. I can't wait to see it."
"I'm also very performance driven. When we decide on getting something done, I want it to be done on time at good quality and at good cost. That defines our customer satisfaction."