Take-over talk swirled around Research In Motion on Monday as investors and analysts pondered whether new Chief Executive Thorsten Heins had been appointed to lead a turnaround of the struggling phonemaker or prepare it for sale. Heins, who joined the Canadian company in 2007, took over the top job on Saturday when co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie finally bowed to investor pressure and resigned.
They hand over a firm that has lost market share and market value after being comprehensively outplayed by the likes of Apple and Google. The group looks badly in need of a leader that can rejuvenate both the design and operational sides of the business. "If there are no meaningful signs of an imminent turnaround then I think the spotlight will turn back on to the assets that RIM holds and who they might be attractive to," CCS Insight analyst Ben Wood told Reuters.
"The annual analyst event in May will now become the focal point to the unveiling of Thorsten's vision. We know the speed with which you make strategic changes and implement them is absolutely critical because the mobile phone business will not stand still." On the surface, the former Siemens AG executive appeared to suggest he would stick to the current strategy, but analysts expect that to change in the coming months.
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