The week is off to a dramatic start with the news that Research In Motion’s Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie have resigned as co-CEOs and co-chairmen. Thorsten Heins has taken on the roles of President and CEO and wasted no time sharing some thoughts on what we can expect from him:
Heins touched upon a number of topics promising more marketing (with an increased consumer focus and the hiring of a new Chief Marketing Officer), ongoing innovation (“We always think ahead; we always think forward; we sometimes think the unthinkable”), and improved internal processes, discipline and execution. Heins also remains open to the idea of licensing BlackBerry 10.
Fundamentally, Heins has not proposed anything that is a radical departure from RIM’s current strategy. Heins remains focused on the PlayBook (and PlayBook OS 2.0), calling it “a new mobile computing platform,” and the upcoming BlackBerry 10 launch (he “can’t wait to see it.”).
Early response on Wall Street has not been favourable. RIMM is down over 6% as I’m posting this…