The founders of Blackberry resign after 20 years

Research in Motion (RIM), the Canadian company that is famous for making Blackberry, have lost the battle to retain their two founders and CEOs after 20 years at the company.

Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis has left their positions after immense pressure from investors in the group, who required a change of strategy to stay competitive against Apple and Google.

They, however, have denied the pressures. The executives will be replaced by his chief operating officer, Thorsten Heins, who has ruled the radical change in the direction of the company that claimed by the investors.

“In any successful business there comes a time when it enters a new phase of growth and it is time that the founders pass the torch to the new direction.” Lazaridis was quoted as saying

The reshuffle came, after a series of setbacks for the makers of BlackBerry, including a massive failure and the s in the launch of the BlackBerry 10 for several days and the commercial failure of the Playbook tablet.

Thorsten Heins, 54, joined RIM from Siemens AG approximately four year ago, said:

“I want us to have a bit more of an ear towards the consumer market, understand trends, and not just do what the Street is telling you. I will do everything I can to make that happen, but I cannot commit to a very specific date.
But, yes, we will ship BlackBerry devices later this year on BlackBerry 10,"

But despite his departure, the company will continue to have its two founders as directors and shareholders. "We work closely with Mr. Heins to ensure a smooth transition and continue to promote BlackBerry in the world," the statement
said.

RIM has lost about 73% of its value to the New York Stock Exchange last year, but Balsillie has assured
a Journal that his resignation "is not an answer" to the evils of the brand’s financial results. The company, meanwhile, has denied that there is "no intention of selling" the firm.

The change of command, so far, has failed to convince Wall Street investors. Shares of Blackberry maker have opened with a decrease of 3.5% after presenting its new CEO.

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Posted by Farasat Ali on Jan 24 2012. Filed under Sci-Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry