Research in Motion (RIM) announced on Sunday that Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, the company's co-CEOs, had resigned from their positions and that Thorsten Heins, who's worked at RIM since 2007, is now the company's new CEO.
Many believe the company, responsible for the development and manufacture of BlackBerry software and hardware, needs to adopt a radical new approach to survive. For example, Certain investors recently urged the company to sell itself, either as a whole or in parts. As CEO, Heins may not bring that kind of sweeping change.
During his first conference call as CEO on Monday, Heins hinted at his plan for the company's future. "I don't think there is some drastic change needed," Heins said during the call. "We are evolving. We're evolving our strategy, we're evolving our tactics, our processes."
Beset with problems in the past year, RIM's stock has plunged, its market share is crumbling under heavy competition from iPhone and Android handset platforms, and its upcoming hardware and software, on which may hinge the company's future in the consumer space, have already been delayed enough to worry investors and customers alike.
How did the tide turn so abruptly on the formerly number-one smartphone platform in the U.S.? Check out our slideshow (below) to see 7 of RIM's biggest setbacks over the past year. Vote for the one you think is the worst, and let us know in the comments what you think the future holds for Research In Motion. Read on to learn more about the company's new CEO, and see how Twitter reacted to news of the shakeup.
