Is It Too Late
To Save RIM?
New CEO Thorsten Heins faces a Herculean
task in trying to make the smartphone
maker relevant again. By Matt Hamblen
and John Ribeiro
NEW RESEARCH IN MOTION CEO Thorsten Heins has a small window of opportunity to resuscitate the long- stumbling smartphone maker. Analysts and industry partners think Heins, promoted to lead the company late last month, may
have only until December to prove his mettle. By then, they say,
he must get new BlackBerry 10 smartphones out the door and
also get sales off to a good start for the Playbook 2 tablet, which is
slated to start shipping next month.
“The execution is what has to be done. [Heins] has to keep
the trains running on time,” said Rick Segal, CEO of Fixmo, a
provider of risk management software for BlackBerry, Apple iOS
and Android smartphones.
“If there’s no movement in 24 months, he’s toast. In fact, if
they miss Christmas [2012 product roll-
outs], that will be ugly,” Segal added.
If there’s no movement in 24 months, he’s toast. In fact, if they miss Christmas
[2012 product rollouts], that will be ugly. — RICK SEGAL, CEO, FIXMO
