The chief executives of Blackberry maker Research In Motion (RIM) have both quit their roles as co-CEOs and co-chairmen at the Canadian company.
The move comes just a month after RIM delayed releasing new phones which had been seen as critical to the firm’s future.
Today the Daily Telegraph said RIM had “hit the panic button” and added:
“By replacing its founders and co-chief executives Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, RIM has acknowledged what the market has known for months if not years – BlackBerry is withering on the vine.
“What was once the world’s leading smartphone company now accounts for just 3pc of mobile phone sales worldwide. A combination of technical issues, trademark disputes and management blunders have left the Canadian group reeling”
RIM’s version of Apple’s iPAD, the PlayBook tablet, had failed to win consumer support and the company had to offer huge discounts in an effort to get them off the shelves.
RIM has has lost tens of billions in market value, from a high of around $70billion just a few years ago to today’s figure of $8.9billion.
Lazaridis and Balsillie have been replaced by Thorsten Heins, a chief operating officer who joined RIM from Siemens AG four years ago.
Source: Daily Telegraph
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