Waterloo, ON – The Board of Directors of BlackBerry® maker Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced that, acting on the recommendation of its Co-Chief Executive Officers to implement the succession plan they previously submitted to the Board, it has unanimously named Thorsten Heins as President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Heins was also appointed to RIM’s Board. The Board acted after conducting its own due diligence. Both appointments are effective immediately.
Mike Lazaridis, former Co-Chair and Co-CEO, has become Vice Chair of RIM’s Board and Chair of the Board’s new Innovation Committee. As Vice Chair, he will work closely with Mr. Heins to offer strategic counsel, provide a smooth transition and continue to promote the BlackBerry brand worldwide.
Mr. Heins said he looks forward to continuing to work with Mr. Lazaridis, globally recognized as a technology pioneer. He said, “Mike created a whole new way of communicating and I look forward to continuing our close collaboration.”
On the transition to CEO by Mr. Heins, Mr. Lazaridis said, “There comes a time in the growth of every successful company when the founders recognize the need to pass the baton to new leadership. Jim and I went to the Board and told them that we thought that time was now. With BlackBerry 7 now out, PlayBook 2.0 shipping in February and BlackBerry 10 expected to ship later this year, the company is entering a new phase, and we felt it was time for a new leader to take it through that phase and beyond. Jim, the Board and I all agreed that leader should be Thorsten Heins.”
According to a report in the Financial Times, Research in Motion’s board is preparing to oust co-chairs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie due to intense pressure from shareholders who watched RIM’s stock price drop over 75% in 2011. Independent director Barbara Stymiest is rumored to be the front runner to replace Lazaridis and Balsillie who will remain co-CEOs of the company.
Research in Motion founder and co-CEO, Mike Lazaridis, released this video video addressing the BlackBerry service outage that pretty much affected earth. Big Mike says “You expect better from us and I expect better from us”…
Just as I was in the middle of a post that I was going to title “RIM doesn’t understand the power of Angry Birds”, Research in Motion co-CEO Mike Lazaridis announces that Angry Birds is coming to the BlackBerry PlayBook. Whatever RIM did to get Rovio to commit to bring Angry Birds to the BlackBerry PlayBook a mere two weeks after its launch, they need to do with other (a lot of other) app developers that have popular mobile apps out on other platforms. The game being played, when it comes to the tablet market in 2011, is for the number two spot as no one realistically is going to challenge the iPad. That being said, however, I believe that if RIM can get the development community to support the BlackBerry PlayBook with popular apps like Angry Birds, the PlayBook just might be a contender…
Research in Motion co-CEO, Mike Lazaridis, abruptly ended a BBC interview after repeatedly being asked questions that he felt weren’t fair. BBC’s technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones, after questioning Lazaridis about the BlackBerry PlayBook which will launch next Tuesday, turned the topic to RIM’s “problems they’ve had with security and various arguments with India and governments in the Middle East.”
Lazaridis took exception with not only the question, but how it was characterized stating:
“You implied that we have a security problem, we don’t have a security problem … we’ve just been singled out, because we’re so successful around the world. It’s an iconic product, used by business, it’s used by leaders, it’s used by celebrities, it’s used by consumers, it’s used by teenagers, we were just singled out.”
When questioned a second time about “RIM’s security issues, Lazaridis responded, “it’s over … you can’t use that Rory it’s just not fair.” Then he told the cameraman to turn it off…
I can’t say that I blame Lazaridis for getting upset. The questions where phrased in a way that makes it look as though the BlackBerry has a security issue. The issue, actually, is that the Indian government and a few governments in the Middle East cannot crack RIM’s security which would allow them to monitor communications being sent over their citizens BlackBerry devices. Mike Lazaridus is, however, the co-CEO of a multi-billion company. He probably should have just said no comment, it’s a matter of national security, and, I can’t talk about further. Hindsight, however, is always 20/20…
Over the weekend I read an interesting article over on the NYT online where Research in Motion founder and co-CEO Mike Lazaridis gave an interview and seemed to go on a bit of a rant asking the following series of questions…
“Why is it that people don’t appreciate our profits? Why is it that people don’t appreciate our growth? Why is it that people don’t appreciate the fact that we spent the last four years going global? Why is it that people don’t appreciate that we have 500 carriers in 170 countries with products in almost 30 languages?”
One of the things that Research in Motion co-CEO Mike Lazaridis said at the All Things D: Dive Into Mobile conference last week was that we will see QNX on the BlackBerry when dual core processors became available. LG, today, has launched the LG Optimus 2X with Tegra 2, the first dual-core smartphone, so, clearly dual core processors are available. Lazaridis said also, however, when talking about BlackBerry 6 that, “It really is the foundation of us going forward on the BlackBerry“, which to me sounds like it will be some time before we see a QNX BlackBerry.
I don’t want to say that Lazaridis’ comments are conflicting, but, they definitely are confusing. All I really want to know is when can I get a dual-core, QNX running BlackBerry?
