RIM CEO Says No 'Seismic' Change Coming

LR Mobile News Analysis Michelle Donegan 1/23/2012

BlackBerry held a conference call for analysts and media on Monday to introduce newly appointed President and CEO Thorsten Heins, and the main message was that there are no plans for major changes at the company.

But there is room for improvement.

Heins said that the two areas he will focus on are execution of product delivery and marketing communication with consumers, especially in the U.S.

Here are the highlights from the call:

"No drastic change is needed," said Heins about RIM's strategy. "We're evolving our strategy, evolving our processes. This is not a seismic change … [we're] scaling the company further."

He explained that when he joined RIM in December 2007, the company was growing but was "still acting as a startup" and that "startup processes and environments don't scale."

Heins also said he intended to keep the company intact.

"We're strong because we have an integrated solution: We have our network, our service and we have fantastic devices," he said. "I will not in any way split this up and separate into different businesses."

But he is open to licensing agreements with other companies.

"If we receive requests to license [our platform], I will entertain those discussions," he said. "If it makes sense strategically, then I'll make that decision with the board."

Heins said he was recruiting for a chief marketing officer and wanted to hire that person as soon as possible.

"We need to be closer to our consumer user base," he said. "Specifically in the U.S., we need to do a better job there.

"We need to be more market driven … consumer-oriented, which is where our growth is coming from," he added.

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— Michelle Donegan, European Editor, Light Reading Mobile