In his first conference call as CEO, Thorsten Heins stated unequivocally that "substantial change" was what RIM needed.
However, it's now being suggested an attempt to revolutionise a part of RIM's business by former co-CEO Jim Balsillie was rejected by the company in his final days, with the firm instead focusing on its forthcoming BlackBerry 10 range.
That's according to Reuters, which reports Balsillie planned to allow US and European carriers to use RIM's proprietary network to provide cheap data plans for non-BlackBerry devices.
Networking
The strategy would have seen carriers offering inexpensive contracts designed to entice feature phone users into smartphone upgrades.
These contracts would have included access to social networking sites, as well as RIM's own BlackBerry Messenger platform through the company's network.
It would have represented a completed departure from the company's previous approach, but Reuters sources claim Balsillie was already in talks with a number of networks, and RIM had itself developed the software to deliver limited data plans to iOS and Android users.
Like a lead balloon
But the plans seemingly generated a great deal of tension at RIM, and Heins - backed by the board and Balsillie's co-CEO Mike Lazaridis - rejected them.
Shortly afterwards, Balsillie and Lazaridis stepped down as co-CEOs, with Balsillie leaving the company altogether in March.
It's notable that, though RIM's hardware business is ailing, Balsillie's strategy was designed to exploit not the firm's hardware or operating systems, but rather is network, which remains a high-margin operation generating around $1 billion per quarter for the company.
For his part, Heins has instead vowed to refocus RIM's operations in the enterprise sector, even openly raising the prospect of selling the company off if its situation does not improve.
[source: Reuters]
News
Related Articles
Data & Research
Jul 6th, 2020
37% of iPhone owners game daily while 46% of Blackberry owners have no games
News
Sep 28th, 2016
BlackBerry ceases smartphone manufacturing as company reports $372 million net loss
Top Stories
Feature
May 20th, 2024
Hot Five: AppLovin revenue surges 48% Y/Y, Plarium and Big Fish up for sale, and a look inside Merge Mansion's growth
Feature
May 20th, 2024
55 top mobile games in soft launch: Squad Busters, Battle Guys: Royale, Plants vs. Zombies 3, LEGO Hill Climb Adventures, and more
Events
Digital Dragons | Europe | May 19th |
GamesBeat Summit 2024 | North America | May 20th |
Mobidictum Meetup Tallinn May 2024 | Europe | May 21st |
Nordic Game Spring 2024 | Nordic | May 21st |
Impact 2024 - Indie Games | May 23rd | |
MomoCon 2024 | North America | May 24th |
Morocco Gaming Expo | Africa | May 24th |
For The Win 2024 | Europe | May 29th |