RIM finally replaces co-CEOs Balsillie and Laziridis

RIM was surely one of the most heavily criticized companies of 2011. If they weren’t being slammed for the underwhelming launch of the BlackBerry PlayBook, they were taking heat for the delay of their next-gen QNX phones, the lack of support for six-month-old phones by BlackBerry OS 7, and a slipping market share in the U.S. Even RIM’s corporate structure was a target.

Who runs an influential high-tech firm with dual CEOs? RIM did, of course, with founding fathers Jim Balsillie and Mike Laziridis sharing the helm. With investor shouts for change growing louder over the recent quarters, RIM finally made the move this weekend. Taking the reigns is Thorsten Heins, a former Siemens exec who’s been with RIM since 2007. Heins is moving from his previous role as Chief Operating Officer of Software, Hardware, and Sales — yes, in addition to a pair of CEOs, RIM had one guy heading up three major divisions.

In his introduction video, Heins covers all the sounding points you’d expect him to. He points to RIM’s past innovation, its enterprise customer base, and its ability to execute and says that all three will continue to be vitally important to the company — and that RIM needs to improve in all areas.

 

When it comes to product development, Heins says that RIM has occasionally gotten so wrapped up in building an exciting, innovative product that they sometimes try to innovate while developing it. That can lead to launch delays and marketing issues, so Heins wants to make sure that RIM gets that all out of the way during the prototyping phase while he’s in charge. He also hasn’t ruled out licensing BlackBerry software to other handset makers — something that has been fuelling plenty of speculation in recent months.

Although Heins is the new CEO, it’s important to note that Balsillie and Laziridis are both still members of the RIM board of directors with Laziridis becoming its vice chairman. Balsillie’s reduced role should give him plenty of time to take another stab at purchasing a financially underperforming NHL franchise. (bernama)

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