Blackberry-maker close to hiring marketing chief, stock slumps - NDTV

Research In Motion Ltd stock slumped again on Wednesday, even as the company said it was close to hiring a marketing boss to fashion a unified message for a next-generation BlackBerry that will likely determine its future.

 

Speaking at an annual showcase event that has gone over like a lead balloon, RIM Chief Executive Thorsten Heins admitted RIM spoke with more than one voice when it marketed its current BlackBerry 7 smartphones and its PlayBook tablet. He said that would change.

 

"One thing that really became obvious when I looked at the various parts of the company is that we needed focus," Heins, who took over from longtime co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie earlier this year. He was speaking at the company's BlackBerry World conference in Orlando, Florida.

 

RIM stock had fallen almost 6 per cent on Tuesday after the company gave investors a glimpse of its next-generation BlackBerry 10 smartphone and the tools they would need to create apps for the gadget. But RIM has announced no specifics on how it would recover from its prolonged slump.

 

The shares were down another 5.3 per cent by early afternoon on Wednesday, extending a slide of more than 75 per cent in the past 13 months.

 

"These are baby steps," said John Stephenson, senior vice president at First Asset Investment Management Inc in Toronto.

 

"The problem the company has is, it's not transformational. Thorsten Heins is not the transformational leader that they're looking for. He's probably a good manager and an improvement from what they had before with the co-CEO roles, but none of this is enough to get this thing going."

 

Asked about the fall in the stock price, he added: "It's certainly inexpensive, but the only reason to buy it today would be if your view is that they're going to come up with a plan to split up the company in some form."

 

NEW MARKETING CHIEF

 

A new marketing chief will replace Keith Pardy, who left the company last March, just before RIM launched the PlayBook, a iPad competitor that sold poorly.

 

The BlackBerry 7 line, updated last year and equipped with RIM's legacy operating system, is bridging the gap until the company can launch its BlackBerry 10 platform later this year.

 

The Canadian company is counting on BlackBerry 10 to reverse a deep erosion in its market share as consumers and professional customers alike flock to flashier devices made by Apple Inc or powered by Google's Android.

 

In Tuesday's speech, Heins expanded on earlier comments about a strategic shift away from building consumer-focused services on its own. He said RIM would lean more heavily on partnerships to deliver such services.

 

"RIM is not a gaming company, RIM is not a mapping company," he said at a news conference.

 

Shares of RIM were down 5.3 per cent at C$12.58 on Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Its Nasdaq-listed shares were down 5.6 per cent at $12.73.

 

Impressing developers is crucial for RIM, which has expanded beyond its traditional strength in providing mobile email to office workers, only to struggle against the more consumer-friendly iPhone from Apple and the slew of devices that make use of the Android platform.

 

Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM has around 15,000 apps for its PlayBook tablet and 70,000 apps for its smartphones or the tablet, compared with 200,000 iPad apps, and half a million for the iPhone.

 

Copyright @ Thomson Reuters 2012