Thorsten Heins
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Thorsten Heins, Mike Lazaridis elected to RIM board during shareholders meeting
What's anticipated to be a testy shareholder meeting for Research in Motion kicked things off in a fairly status quo matter, with 10 directors being confirmed as part of the struggling smartphone maker's board. That list includes CEO Thorsten Heins and founder Mike Lazaridis. The elections, one attendee noted, were "not an overwhelming approval," with 14.8 percent and 19.1 percent of votes withheld for Heins and Lazaridis, respectively.
RIM's Thorsten Heins answers Globe & Mail readers' questions, is 'absolutely committed' to new timeline
RIM CEO Thorsten Heins did a fair bit of talking to the media following the company's latest dose of bad news (in addition to penning his own op-ed), and he's now gone one step further by responding to some readers' questions for The Globe & Mail. While there's expectedly not a whole lot in the way of surprises, he did talk a bit more about the reasons for the BlackBerry 10 delay, noting that he "could still see some of the seams," and appears to have ruled out any further delays, saying that he is "absolutely committed" to the new timeline. He's also assured folks that the company will continue to support BlackBerry 7 devices "into the future," but reiterated that upgrading those devices to BB10 was out of the question. You can find all of his answers (10 of them) at the source link below.
RIM's Thorsten Heins denies company's 'death spiral,' predicts successful transition to BlackBerry 10
RIM CEO Thorsten Heins has the unenviable task of, well, being the CEO of RIM. Still, in spite of some gloomy numbers, the exec thinks the company is on the right track. Heins told CBC Radio that, since taking over, the company has been implementing changes that are helping Research in Motion transition to BlackBerry 10, adding that "there's nothing wrong with the company as it exists right now." Heins told the Metro Morning radio show, "This company is not ignoring the world out there, nor is it in a death spiral," adding, "Yes, it is very, very challenged at the moment - specifically in the U.S. market. The way I would describe it: we're in the middle of a transition." It's a transition from which, Heins insists, RIM "will emerge successfully." What's more, Heins also has an op-ed in today's Globe & Mail, where he mostly reiterates that stance and flatly says "don't count BlackBerry out." You can find it at the source link below.
RIM reportedly firing up to 6,000 in $1 billion savings drive
The Waterloo Record is reporting that RIM is laying off a portion of its workforce as part of its cost-cutting review process. It's believed that between 2,000 and 6,000 employees could be let go as the troubled company attempts to save $1 billion by the end of the fiscal year. Company watcher Martin Chmiel took to Twitter to say that the manufacturing team had been hardest hit, with hundreds of people departing in the past 24 hours.
RIM warns of loss for Q1, hires JP Morgan and RBC Capital Markets to help with strategic review
RIM announced last quarter that it would no longer be providing its traditional financial guidance for upcoming quarters, but CEO Thorsten Heins has nonetheless seen fit to deliver a "business update" today that offers some indication of what's in store for the company. The headline is that it's unsurprisingly projecting an operating loss for the next quarter (Q1 of its 2013 fiscal year), although it's not saying exactly how much, noting only that the "on-going competitive environment is impacting our business in the form of lower volumes and highly competitive pricing dynamics in the marketplace." The company's also confirmed that it has hired JP Morgan and RBC Capital Markets to aid in its so-called strategic review, which it says includes "opportunities to leverage the BlackBerry platform through partnerships, licensing opportunities and strategic business model alternatives." On the slightly brighter side of things, RIM was able to boast that it now has a worldwide subscriber base of 78 million, and that it now counts 80,000 BlackBerry apps and 15,000 PlayBook apps -- both significant increases from a year ago. It also further notes that BlackBerry 10 remains on track for the "latter part of calendar 2012." You can find the company's complete statement after the break.
RIM may cut 2,000-plus jobs within two weeks
RIM's current chief Thorsten Heins has had to make some tough decisions in the first few months of his tenure -- and he could be making some particularly difficult choices about trimming the rank and file within the next two weeks. Assuming we take the claims of several contacts for Canada's The Globe and Mail at face value, "at least" 2,000 jobs are being cut on or before June 1st. The numbers could climb higher at that: Reuters is bracing for as many as 6,000 layoffs, and has described an unhappy routine of "Goodbye Thursdays" where more recent hires are let go. RIM has turned down comment on what it calls "rumors and speculation," and we'd hope for the sake of those possibly affected that it's not true. Having said this, it's hard not to imagine Heins wanting to streamline the BlackBerry maker as much as possible to adapt to shrinking market share and keep the company afloat until BlackBerry 10 potentially spurs a revival.
RIM's global sales head departs after 14-year stretch
Research in Motion's head of global sales is leaving the company after serving the BlackBerry maker for 14 years. Patrick Spence joined the company before it had even produced its first smartphone before rising to his current position, based in London. Reuters hints that he was dissatisfied about being passed over for the vacant COO's position, due to be filled by former Sony Ericsson man Kristian Tear later this year. A spokesperson for the Canadian company said that Mr. Spence would be moving to a leadership role in another industry. [Image Credit: Globe and Mail]
RIM continues the executive shuffle with new COO and CMO
Changes are afoot at Research in Motion. The Canadian smartphone maker today announced the addition of two new names to top executive slots. Former Sony Mobile Communications executive VP Kristian Tear will be taking on the role of the company's chief operating officer. RIM's new chief marketing officer Frank Boulben, meanwhile, comes over from Lightsquared, after having worked for the likes of Vodafone, Vivendi and Orange. The news comes on the heels of word that new CEO Thorsten Heins has been "clearing house" at the ailing phone company.
RIM CEO: 4G PlayBook coming this year
Again, not exactly a bombshell here, but a day after the 4G version of RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook was "confirmed" over a hearty breakfast at BlackBerry World, the company's CEO let it be known that the tablet is, in fact, on the way. According to Thorsten Heins at a press event this morning, the 4G PlayBook is due out before year's end. While he didn't specifically mention LTE, the executive prefaced that statement by saying that his company admittedly has a glaring lack of LTE devices. Should we put two and two together? Interpret it how you will.
RIM: Don't worry, BlackBerry 10 devices with keyboards are on their way
Those decrying the death of the BlackBerry keyboard can officially put their mourning on hold. RIM CEO Thorsten Heins addressed the matter during today's keynote -- but just in case the QWERTY-inclined weren't quite convinced by the sentiment, a spokesperson for the Canadian smartphone maker has brought some reinforcement, telling Phone Scoop that, while early BlackBerry 10 devices will be focused on the virtual, physical keyboards will also be making their way into the mobile OS's ecosystem. Now we can all type a collective sigh of relief.
RIM's BlackBerry World keynote roundup: the OS, the hardware, everything else (video)
So, if all of the news about BlackBerry 10 got a little too overwhelming for you then this is the place to be. There's detailed impressions of the company's new development device, cool new software features and we've even found out how to DJ using a PlayBook. If you want to catch up on everything that went down today, head on past the break and don't forget, you can always relive it blow-by-blow with our liveblog.
BlackBerry 10 camera app gets 'timeline lens,' bad photographers get a do-over
Thorsten Heins is on stage at BlackBerry World 2012 and has just unveiled the new BB10 camera app. It is designed to capture those "magic moments" you miss by not hitting that shutter quick enough. If you miss it by a couple of seconds, you can cycle back through the camera's cache with a circular "timeline" lens and take your pick from the previous seconds worth of frames. It's eerily reminiscent of technology used in the Nikon 1 series, although the implication here is that as soon as the camera app is loaded, it'll start recording frames for your ease of use.
RIM shows off BlackBerry 10 touch keyboard with gesture support
What's the best thing about the BlackBerry platform? Most would say it's the keyboard, which continues to be world-class in the company's most recent handsets, like the Bold 9900. One of the big questions on the fans of the BB faithful in the new operating system was how the company could re-create that magic on a touchscreen. Well, Thorsten Heins just showed us how on-stage at BlackBerry World, showing off a new, smart touch keyboard that is said to adapt to your touches. It has elements of predictive text, like many other keyboards, but it also relies heavily on gestures. For example, to get to numbers and special characters, just swipe upward from below and the keyboard layout changes. You can swipe up and down to cycle through these layouts and, like SwiftKey, swipe left to delete whole words. It doesn't exactly blow many of those aftermarket Android options out of the water but it certainly looks like it could be among one of the best stock keyboards out there.
Live from the 2012 BlackBerry World keynote with Thorsten Heins!
It's the moment many of the BlackBerry faithful (and plenty of other curious tech enthusiasts, for that matter) have been waiting for: the BlackBerry World 2012 general session, with fresh CEO Thorsten Heins taking charge. Will we finally hear more about this QNX-based BlackBerry 10 we've been so anxious to see? Is he going to whip out a mysterious new device out of his front pocket? We're here at the Marriott World Center to bring the news to you as it happens, so keep your eyes peeled down below! May 1, 2012 9:00 AM EDT
Former RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie's very different rescue plan revealed
Sources close to former RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie have revealed his plans to save the company before he was shown the door, a plan that didn't involve handsets. He'd entered into talks with AT&T, Verizon and several European carriers to offer them use of the company's BlackBerry-exclusive network to provide limited data plans to featurephone users that included social networking and BBM -- with the aim of reducing the cellphone operators data burden and coaxing users to upgrade to smartphones. The company was working on Mobile Fusion; software that allowed enterprise and government users on iOS and Android devices to join RIM's system, which reportedly earns the company $1 billion per quarter. However, while talks progressed, company execs grew nervous and ousted him in favor of Thorsten Heins with a mandate to focus on BB10 and new devices rather than turning RIM into a service company. However, given that it's still losing money on its handset business, Heins has reopened the door to Balsillie's plan. It's just a shame Balsillie himself is keeping quiet, as we'd love to hear his thoughts in an executive-level edition of How Would you Change.
RIM sticking with consumer goods, just 'refocusing' on enterprise
Some people got the wrong idea yesterday when RIM's new CEO Thorsten Heins said the company was refocusing on the enterprise market and would stop trying to be "all things to all people." Many took the post-earnings call comment to mean that RIM would be exiting the consumer market, an assumption that didn't seem like much of a stretch considering its failure to capture the imagination of users outside the office place. Things weren't made any better when Heins seemingly left the door open for the manufacturer to leave the hardware business entirely. However, in a statement, managing director of global sales and regional marketing Patrick Spence clarified that "the claim that RIM has said it will withdraw from the consumer market is wholly misleading." He continued to explain that, "whilst we announced plans to refocus our efforts on our core strengths, and on our enterprise customer base, we were very explicit that we will continue to build on our strengths to go after targeted consumer segments." In particular there still seems to be hope that BBM can become a staple in the lives of young trend setters, but it'll probably need some help from cross platform clients to do so.Update: Just in case there was any doubt RIM has posted a clarification on its blog saying in no uncertain terms that the consumer market is still a target. "To be really clear, we are fully committed to the consumer market," there really isn't any way to misconstrue that. Hit up the more coverage link to read the whole post.
RIM announces Q4 2012 earnings, Jim Balsillie resigns from board, company plans to refocus on enterprise
We've already seen a bit of big news slip out ahead of RIM's earnings announcement, and the company's now dropped another bombshell itself. Former co-CEO Jim Balsillie has resigned from his position on the company's board of directors. In a statement, Balsillie said simply: "As I complete my retirement from RIM, I'm grateful for this remarkable experience and for the opportunity to have worked with outstanding professionals who helped turn a Canadian idea into a global success." RIM also confirmed that CTO David Yach would be retiring as well, and that COO Jim Rowan has "decided to pursue other interests," but it hasn't offered any indication of a broader shakeup beyond those three departures. As for the fourth quarter earnings, RIM is reporting revenue of $4.2 billion, down 19 percent from the third quarter, and a GAAP net loss of $125 million. Total BlackBerry shipments for the quarter dipped 21 percent to 11.1 million units, while PlayBook shipments totaled 500,000, which is actually a new high water mark for the tablet (1.3 million were shipped during the fiscal year). This is also notably the company's first quarterly earnings under the leadership of new CEO Thorsten Heins, who admits that the RIM faces some "significant" business challenges over the "next several quarters," and says that he's "taking the necessary steps to address them." That includes "increased management accountability and process discipline," as well as what he describes as a "comprehensive review of strategic opportunities including partnerships and joint ventures, licensing, and other ways to leverage RIM's assets and maximize value for our stakeholders." On the company's earnings call, Heins further added that he intends to refocus on the company's enterprise business, and not try to be "all things to all people." He went on to offer an even more frank assessment of RIM's current state than he had earlier, stating that these are "difficult times" and that there's "no guarantee of success," while also adding that he's open to exploring "all opportunities." That includes the possibility of licensing BB10 which, incidentally, will apparently address the company's current LTE deficit "later this year." Asked on the call whether he would consider getting out of the hardware business altogether, Heins says that he prefers an "integrated" approach, but left the door open a little to that being done through partnerships instead of completely in-house -- he also repeatedly noted that he wants RIM devices to be high-end, "aspirational" products. In short: the company's focus now is on BB10 and enterprise, but it's seemingly leaving just about everything on the table.
RIM CEO Thorsten Heins reportedly 'clearing house,' laying off numerous executives
With BlackBerry World only weeks away and RIM's earnings report merely hours away, it looks as if newly-appointed CEO Thorsten Heins will be leading it with quite the bang. While Heins has done a truly exceptional job of laying low (really low) during his first few months in the corner office, he's evidently been hard at work rearranging chairs... mentally, at least. According to The Globe and Mail's Iain Marlow, a trusted source has informed him that the BlackBerry maker's head honcho has begun "clearing house," with senior vice presidents and VP-level executives being informed of the imminent changes today. We're tracking down more on the story right now and will update this post as details flow.Update: The report is up in full, with an unnamed source explaining: "Lots of high level people within RIM were let go today. Quite a few. Big shake up." We're still awaiting official word, which is apt to be found buried deep within the eventual earnings release.
Distro Issue 25: Ultrabook overload, Snap Analysis and Gina Trapani
Distro is 25... weeks old, today! And to celebrate we're debuting a new page that puts you, our readers, front and center. We've been sending out questions over various social networking channels and collecting your answers for the inaugural run of Snap Analysis. Among other things, you weighed in on RIM's CEO switch up, as did our own Darren Murph in his editorial, "RIM's New CEO Isn't the Shakeup It Needed." We have more editorializing coming your way from the desk of Donald Melanson, who's taking the Ultrabook marketing hype to task. Also in this issue, we test drive the BlackBerry Porsche Design P'9981 and review the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1 and Huawei's Honor. Lifehacker's Gina Trapani takes on the Distro Q&A, IRL goes back to CES and Ross Rubin explores Apple's education push. There's a lot to soak up in this issue, so hit the appropriate link below and get to reading!
RIM stock falls eight percent following CEO transition
We rarely meddle with stock news around these parts, but this was a pretty significant piece of meat to chew on. After Research in Motion introduced Thorsten Heins as the new CEO last night and again in a conference call this morning, the company's stock price tumbled a whopping 8.47 percent. When it comes to what kind of difference the transition will make for the struggling company, we haven't had a high amount of confidence; while we hope for the best and want to see RIM turn things around, the falling stock appears to indicate that we're not alone in expressing concerns about this morning's events. Here's some food for thought: when rumors that Samsung was interested in purchasing RIM flooded the internet, the latter company's stocks spiked by nearly ten percent.
