Late last night, the outcome of the NFL NFC Championship game between the 49ers and Giants was making news across the country. In the mobile world, though, it was a company from Canada that people were talking about, as RIM announced that Thorsten Heins would be replacing the team of Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis at the position of CEO. This morning RIM held a conference call to help introduce Thorsten Heins and allow him to field some questions from investors. During the call, Heins reiterated that he doesn't feel that any drastic changes to the company's existing strategies are needed, but that RIM will continue to evolve and grow from its tactics over the recent years. Heins did say that RIM needs to focus on better executing new products and strategic planning, and that it must also work on marketing and becoming more focused on the consumer market.
Heins also touched a bit on software during the call, talking up QNX by describing it as a "proven OS" that allows for "true multitasking," adding that it will be the base of the BlackBerry platform "for the next decade." The exec also said that he was encouraged by the good reception that he says RIM's PlayBook OS 2.0 received at CES. He later added that both the PlayBook OS 2.0 and BlackBerry 10 will have an Android player on them, meaning that users will be able to access Android apps on devices running those OSes. Lastly, Heins restated that RIM would consider licensing BlackBerry 10 to other manufacturers "if it makes sense strategically and tactically," but that the main focus of RIM will be on cranking away on its own products like "another fruit company" does.
So what do you all make of RIM's new CEO now that you've had some time to get to know him? It's good to finally see someone new at the helm for RIM, which is a change that many feel has been needed for a while now. Of course, Heins isn't exactly new blood for for the company considering that he's been with it since 2007, and the fact that he doesn't see the need for any drastic changes in RIM's strategies isn't likely what some BlackBerry fans were hoping to hear when it comes to the new CEO's plans for helping to turn things around for RIM. Heins did say that his company needs to focus better on executing products and communicating with consumers, though, so we'll have to wait and see if doing that can help the BlackBerry manufacturer to win back some market share from the likes of Android and iOS. In case you missed it last night, you can check out RIM's video introducing Thorsten Heins down below.
Via The Verge