For those of you that haven’t heard, Research in Motion has a new CEO. His name is Thorsten Heins and he is replacing former co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Ballsille.
The street has been calling for a change for at the top of RIM for some time. Unfortunately, however, for Thorsten Heins, not just any ole CEO would make investors happy.
Research in Motions stock (RIMM) was down almost 9% yesterday on news of the management change. It’s down another 3.65% (at the time of this posting) today and it is safe to assume that investors are generally not happy with the leader selected to turn things around.
Thorsten Heins was previously COO at RIM and is seen as an insider and part of the corporate culture at RIM which permitted the company to get into the current shape that it is in. Additionally, Mr. Heins didn’t do himself any favors when he said essentially that RIM’s biggest problem is marketing and that he would rely on the former co-CEOs for guidance.
Many investors are worried that you will see much of the same when it comes to RIM, and, for the time being, the stock price is reflection of their sentiment.
What do you think… Is Thorsten Heins taking the helm at RIM a good thing for the future of the BlackBerry?