Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis out, Thorsten Heins in as CEO of RIM

[vitaminG]

wonder what this means for future of RIM. Major shakeup, licensing, break the company apart and sell it piece by piece?

Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis out, Thorsten Heins in as CEO of RIM - The Globe and Mail

January 22, 2012

Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis out, Thorsten Heins in as CEO of RIM

By IAIN MARLOW AND TARA PERKINS
From Monday's Globe and Mail

After a brutal year, the company's builders are relinquishing their positions as executives and co-chairmen of the board of directors


Research In Motion Ltd. RIM-T leaders Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis are stepping down as executives and co-chairmen of the board in the biggest shakeup in the history of the Waterloo, Ont.-based startup turned global smartphone giant.

The sudden move follows a year of decline in which RIM lost three-quarters of its market value, botched the launch of its PlayBook tablet and watched rivals eat into the BlackBerry's market share. (Mobile readers can click here to follow our live reaction []Breaking news, reaction and analysis into RIM's CEO shakeup Monday morning.)

In the most dramatic change since the company was founded 27 years ago, the new chief executive will be Thorsten Heins. Recruited by Mr. Balsillie and Mr. Lazaridis five years ago, he came to be a trusted adviser and their hand-picked successor. Barbara Stymiest replaces Mr. Balsillie and Mr. Lazaridis as chair of the board of directors

Calls for radical change at the company have been mounting in recent months. Its BlackBerry device blazed the trail for smartphones and has 75 million active subscribers around the world, but RIM has struggled of late with dwindling market share and fierce competition from Apple Inc.'s iPhone and an array of devices running Google Inc.'s Android operating system.

The catalyst for change appears to have been the entry of a new personality: reserved but revered investor Prem Watsa, CEO of Fairfax Financial. Mr. Watsa, who has been called Canada's Warren Buffett for his business acumen, has been quietly buying RIM stock for some time. Fairfax is now one of RIM's largest shareholders, and Mr. Watsa is being appointed to the company's board of directors after playing a role in key discussions in recent weeks.

Critics of the company's performance may not be immediately impressed by a management shakeup that involves so little fresh blood. Mr. Heins, a former executive at Siemens, is simply moving up the ranks, while Ms. Stymiest, who once headed stock market operator TSX Group, has been a director since 2007. But RIM's new leadership - including Mr. Watsa, Mr. Heins and Ms. Stymiest - suggested in interviews with The Globe and Mail on Sunday that they are content with the company's strategic direction and products.

"There's no need for me to shake this company up or turn it upside down," Mr. Heins said at RIM's Waterloo headquarters. "We are not at a point where we try to define a strategy. That's done."

Mr. Balsillie and Mr. Lazaridis have been grooming Mr. Heins as a successor for some time and say they decided to act as the company enters a new phase. RIM's newest BlackBerry 7 devices are now out in the market, its PlayBook tablet is receiving a software revamp in February and its next-generation operating system - BlackBerry 10, which is meant to save the company - is launching later this year.

"Jim and I approached the board and we told them that the time is now," Mr. Lazaridis said.

The board agreed, both with that decision and the suggestion from Mr. Balsillie and Mr. Lazaridis that Mr. Heins was the best candidate for the role of CEO. In addition, the directors decided to try to recruit Mr. Watsa, a prominent and respected outsider, at a time when the company was under fire for a co-CEO, co-chair governance structure that critics felt was contributing to RIM's growing problems.

Mr. Lazaridis and Mr. Watsa were introduced in 2009 by David Johnston, who is now Canada's Governor-General but at the time was the long-standing president of the University of Waterloo.

Mr. Johnston decided that he wanted to try to recruit Mr. Watsa as the school's next chancellor, and he sought the help of Mr. Lazaridis - who famously founded Research In Motion while he was a student at Waterloo - to make it happen. While Mr. Lazaridis and Mr. Watsa had not met before, Mr. Johnston asked Mr. Lazaridis to call Mr. Watsa and persuade him to take the job. Mr. Lazaridis did so, telling the Fairfax CEO that accepting the position would be the best thing he would ever do. Mr. Watsa agreed, and was later happy he made the move.

Three years later, the two were talking again - this time about the future of Mr. Lazaridis. Mr. Watsa's Fairfax had become RIM's fourth-largest shareholder, after PrimeCap Management, Mr. Lazaridis and Mr. Balsillie (who each owned roughly 5 per cent of the firm). Mr. Watsa, a value investor who tends to buy into companies that have fallen on hard times, was a fan of the company's products and accomplishments.

Again it was Mr. Lazaridis who reached out to Mr. Watsa, this time on the subject of joining the RIM board of directors. Mr. Watsa does not normally accept board nominations, citing the demands of Fairfax. But he agreed to meet with both Mr. Lazaridis and Mr. Balsillie to talk it over.

"Mike and Jim said, 'We've made this decision and we've taken it to the board,'" Mr. Watsa recalled. "I am a great fan of Mike and Jim," he said. "This is exactly the right decision for both of them."

Mr. Watsa likens the relationship between Mr. Heins and the two former co-CEOs to that between Tim Cook and Steve Jobs at Apple, where Mr. Jobs was the visionary and Mr. Cook was seen as bringing discipline to the firm.

"They needed a disciplined operator to take this forward," Mr. Watsa said.

Mr. Heins has long been considered a crucial link in RIM's executive chain, with broad responsibilities for the global expansion of the BlackBerry brand that has made it the smartphone of choice in many emerging economies. He was promoted in July, 2011, and became the overall authority for planning, products and sales.

In a recent interview, one former RIM executive described Mr. Heins as "hugely influential," adding that as the only one in RIM's senior management who could truly say no to the technologically knowledgeable founder Mr. Lazaridis and the forceful Mr. Balsillie on issues of significance, Mr. Heins increasingly found himself in a "gate-keeping" role at the company.

As Mr. Heins takes the reins, both Mr. Lazaridis and Mr. Balsillie will remain on RIM's board, and Mr. Lazaridis is taking on the new title of vice-chair of RIM's board and chair of the board's new innovation committee. The two men declined to say what they would do next, but it is clear they both could use a break.

"I think this has been the hardest working year of my life," Mr. Balsillie said, adding that he had 24/7 responsibility in multiple time zones, and has been working 80- to 90-hour weeks.

Mr. Lazaridis said he looks forward to spending more time with his children. "Obviously, we're looking forward to having more free time," he said.

While there has been much talk of tension and disagreements between the two former co-CEOs, both men denied that, suggesting that the last year has been about hunkering down together.

Ms. Stymiest suggested that while she welcomed their decision, she is not worried about RIM's strategic direction.

"The board truly admires Mike and Jim for making what I think is a tough decision for founders to make, but one we are totally supportive of, and think is the right decision," she said.

[bcrdukes]

Heins is part of the old guard. I don't think much will change especially with Balsille and Lazaridis still on the board.

[PiuYi]

today's stock prices reflected that.. everybody sees Heins as Lazardis and Balsillie's puppet

must say tho, RIM stocks are looking more and more tempting.. $16/share for their revenue/assets can be a bargain

[willystyle]

The new CEO has already said that their current vision won't change, they will not split their business, nor allow RIM to be bought out. He also went onto say that, if they continue the current path that they are on, they will be more successful than ever. Bunch of idiots that are delusional.

RIM is done!

[Psykopathik]

i think most investors have lost faith in RIM. i see them going down in flames. sad for a Canuck company.

[Firmware]

They will bounce back

[StylinRed]

Originally Posted by willystyle

The new CEO has already said that their current vision won't change, they will not split their business, nor allow RIM to be bought out. He also went onto say that, if they continue the current path that they are on, they will be more successful than ever. Bunch of idiots that are delusional.

RIM is done!

i wouldnt say that they might be thinking long term and have already made the necessary changes


its like with Nokia the ceo prior to elop (olli) had made great steps and changes that were starting to come to fruition but the BoD got antsy and got wooed by m$ft $$ that they let the ceo go and made drastic changes like picking up wp7 which doesnt seem to be meeting expectations even though theres great praise for it

and ditching maemo/symbian SwipeUI/QT apparently Apples going to be pushing SwipeUI now while Nokia ditched it (even though its been getting exceptional praise.... now all the iSheep will think Apple created something again) sorry ranting


this might be the case here with RIM after all we saw some glimpses of the QNX phone and it looks great the only flack ive read about it is that they're not going to be dual core (but that doesnt mean much)

[Firmware]

Everyone goes crazy over the specs but honestly when you have a blackberry , it is already powerful enough to do what you need.

[sindragon]

Originally Posted by Firmware

Everyone goes crazy over the specs but honestly when you have a blackberry , it is already powerful enough to do what you need.

i have torch and i 100% disagree, watching video is unenjoyable / crap. Websites are slow as fuck and is worthless. Camera is complete toilet fogged blurr full of fuck

[7seven]

Blackberry is what they are, great mobile devices for work and business purposes with the encryption, physical keyboard and pin/bbm feature. If you want to watch videos, play with apps or do a lot of web browsing on your mobile device, Blackberry is not ideal and down right frustrating at times, get an Android device.

I haven't had any issues with the camera or picture quality on my Torch like the poster above, but I did think about switching to a Galaxy S II and had one to try out for a bit, great phone but it wasn't efficient/productive for work purposes as the Torch and I lost ~85% of my work contacts on bbm/pin.

We'll see if the Blackberry 10/QNX devices draw some of the general consumer market back later this year but I seriously doubt it, long way to go to catch up to Android devices.

[fsy82]

BBM with a Android platform would be epic

[bcrdukes]

Originally Posted by 7seven

I did think about switching to a Galaxy S II and had one to try out for a bit, great phone but it wasn't efficient/productive for work purposes as the Torch and I lost ~85% of my work contacts on bbm/pin.

This.

I gave the Galaxy S2 a chance and it was by far, the worst work phone - ever.

[Firmware]

Originally Posted by sindragon

i have torch and i 100% disagree, watching video is unenjoyable / crap. Websites are slow as fuck and is worthless. Camera is complete toilet fogged blurr full of fuck

I know the torch is completely garbage in comparison to the new Bold, which im using right now. The browsing is quick , everything is responsive , the liquid graphics are so nice.

It was the stepping stone finally to the , IMO , upcoming comeback from all the bad press.

Im speaking business wise, you dont buy a blackberry for its fucking camera , it is for business , quick communication when you need it.

If you are still running the old berries , try the new ones because they are so much superior in terms of everything from the old ones.

This is the year where it will determine the company rise or fall with the new playbook on its way and 3 new phones this year and another in the Q1 of 2013 running BBX10.

[Psykopathik]

If youre buying a phone for buisness, it better do fucking everything well.
"hi customer. Look at this blurry picture of my product. What? You cant tell it looks great? But im using a Blackberry. You can trust me." *click*

[Firmware]

I dont know what you have against blackberrys but my pictures turn out fine.

[RRxtar]

I think a lot of people think the path RIM is on is the same one from 09/10/11. 2012 is going to see Blackberry take a MAJOR step forward.

BB10/QNX OS which even the anti-BB bloggers are saying is the new thing.

The 2012 roadmap was leaked. And it features all new up to date hardware to bring them inline with Android/Apple (Blackberry London which specs out better than ip4s), and one keeping the hardware that makes a Blackberry a Blackberry, the Bold (Blackberry Nevada) and a new Curve, all due by fall. And an all new Torch due in the winter.

They are also standing behind the Playbook with an updated 7" in April, and a 10" for Christmas.

london:




now, all that being said, IF the new phones flop, RIM is in a world of hurt. But all this end of the world shit the negativists have been preaching has been grossly overstated. RIM has been banking on QNX for a while. They are definitely way behind (like realistically 18 months), but its not too late to get moving forward. They wont topple Apple or Android, but they will be a very solid 3rd. Far from obscure.

[ruthless]

RIM's roadmap for 2012

http://mobilesyrup.com/2012/01/26/ne...unch-and-more/
This is a nice way to start the day. The entire RIM roadmap for 2012 has leaked and it’s a doozy.

Let’s start with the simple stuff: the Curve 9220 and 9320 are ready to go for a mid-year release. The 9220 is indeed an EDGE-only device with a 2.44″ 320×240 display with a 2MP camera, 512MB RAM and ROM, WiFi, Bluetooth. It will probably not come to Canada as Rogers is the only network remaining with EDGE service an they are transitioning away from that technology.

The 9320 is going to be very popular. Likely launching for $299 or less, it also has a 2.44″ 320×240 display, a 3.2MP fixed-focus camera with video recording, 512MB RAM and ROM, WiFi, Bluetooth, FM Stereo and a dedicated BBM button. Very cool! The left hand side button will likely launch BBM from wherever you are in the OS, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it can be re-assigned to other functions.

The Curve 9320 looks to be launching in Q2 of this year.

Next up is the 3G Playbook, which looks and feels the same as last year’s but has an updated 1.5Ghz TI OMAP 4460 processor, 42Mbps HSPA+ and NFC capabilities. It will launch with Playbook OS 2.0 sometime in Q2.

We don’t have any idea whether it will be offered by Canadian carriers, but you can be sure there are going to be some killer bundles with some upcoming BlackBerry devices. White 9790 anyone?

In addition to white Bold 9900 and Torch 9810′s we’re looking at a white Bold 9790 and Curve 9380 at some point this year. Probably launched sometime in the first or second quarter.

The BlackBerry 10 roadmap still seems pretty far off, but we have confirmation that there is going to be at least one BB10 device this year, likely late September or early October according to the roadmap. Anything is subject to change, but we hope that RIM doesn’t rush the device; rather get one killer device out the door.

Some other cool stuff? Wireless Media Server capabilities are coming to BlackBerry 7 devices, which will allow for streaming of photos, movies and music to your favourite electronics such as PCs, consoles and stereo systems. Considering this wasn’t bundled in the BlackBerry 7.1 release, it will likely be in the next major update.

There are some interesting statistics around Playbook owners and ownership, too: 72% of Playbook owners are aged 35+, 84% are male and the average annual income is $78,000. Not bad. Definitely peaking higher than the rest of the pack.

So there you have it! Lots of cool stuff on the way from RIM. What do you think of all this news? Does this bode well for the company’s turn-around? I wonder if Thorsten Heins is upset about the leak…

[ruthless]

Exclusive: First Image of a BlackBerry 10 Superphone!! | CrackBerry.com
Looks a way too long IMO, its good to see that its thin but the length just kills it...
inb4 thats what she said

BOOM! Last week's leaked 2012 BlackBerry Roadmap slide deck brought with it a ton of goodies for the new year, but one thing that was missing was a fresh look at a BlackBerry 10 Smartphone Superphone. Consider it found though, with the slide above featuring an image and some details on the much-rumored about BlackBerry "London".

The story here isn't cut and dry though. Back in November a first photo of a BlackBerry London dummy unit hit the internet, but that BBX phone -- it wasn't re-labeled BlackBerry 10 yet -- featured a hardware design that was quite different than the phone in the image above. The first photo of London featured angular edges and a design language more akin to the uber-expensive Porsche Design P'9981 Smartphone by BlackBerry.

By contrast, the BlackBerry London in the image above looks much more like a phonified BlackBerry PlayBook, featuring the rounded corners and all-black look of RIM's first tablet. And while we heard the first photo of London was legit as RIM hardware concept, we've been hearing for an even longer time now that the first QNX-based hardware was more like a downsized PlayBook. The plot thickens.

All confusion aside though, our excitement is building for the next-generation of BlackBerry phones that are due out later this year.Word has it that London is actually slated for the UK (go figure), while two other models -- "Laguna" and "Lisbon" are in development for the US market targeting AT&T, Sprint and Verizon. We wouldn't be surprised at all to see Laguna and Lisbon actually launched prior to London. With BlackBerry still the #1 Smartphone in the UK, it's in America that RIM needs to first make a big splash with BlackBerry 10.

Talking hardware for a moment, we're hearing that both the TI OMAP5 and Qualcomm chipsets are being tested (1.5GHz dual core processors). If we look ahead by looking at BlackBerry history, it could be that Qualcomm is for the CDMA carriers. All we know is that with the BlackBerry PlayBook rocking and rolling the PlayBook OS at 1Ghz, that with 1.5Ghz as a baseline BlackBerry 10 phones will not be lacking in the performance department.

[Firmware]

http://crackberry.com/exclusive-new-...ir+BB+debut%21

[StylinRed]

looks good

see elements of all OS' in there and unique elements

although the applefags and androtards are saying that BB copied their favourite OS entirely


Maybe BB can stay afloat eh