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London - Takeover talk swirled around Research In Motion
(RIM) on Monday as investors and analysts pondered whether new CEO 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 executive appeared to
suggest he would stick to the current strategy, but analysts expect that to
change in the coming months.
RIM's existing product lineup has struggled to compete with
Apple's iPhone and iPad, and the slew of large-screen and powerful devices from
Samsung and other manufacturers using Google's Android operating system.
US woes
First on the agenda will be a need to improve execution,
with a particular focus on North America where RIM has haemorrhaged market
share after a year marked by product delays and a botched launch of its
PlayBook tablet.
"It takes nine months for a product to get to market
once you have thought about what you want to do," Gartner analyst Carolina
Milanesi told Reuters. "They are looking at at least a year from a
transitional perspective.
"Picking Thorsten is a sign that they haven't quite
decided that (a sale is what) they want to do, so they might give it yet
another shot at looking at the business and trying to come back."
As the window for a turnaround closes, the clamour from
shareholders for the company to license its technology to third parties or even
sell the business has become louder.
Investors have seized on any rumour of a deal, whether with Amazon as reported by Reuters in December or with Samsung last week, as reason to celebrate.
RIM's US-listed shares climbed 4.1% to $17.69 in
premarket trade on Monday.
Nokia in the frame
Analysts have said logical buyers for RIM also include
fellow-struggler Nokia, perhaps with support from Microsoft, and Facebook which
is increasingly pushing its content to users via their cellphones.
If there is no obvious buyer, Heins does have more immediate
options to add value to the business.
Heins said his most immediate concern was to sell RIM’s
current lineup of BlackBerry 7 touchscreen devices, deliver on a promised
software upgrade for its PlayBook tablet computer by February, and rally RIM’s
troops to launch the next-generation BlackBerry 10 phones later this year.
In the longer term, Heins, previously one of RIM’s chief
operating officers, said he would push for more rigorous product development
and place greater emphasis on executing on the company’s marketing and
development plans.
RIM could also license its software or integrate its email
package, a strategy many analysts and investors have thought the company
might pursue. Heins said it would be wrong to focus on that option but said he
would be open to discussions of such a nature.
The analysts also welcomed the fact that Lazaridis was
staying with the company, as the shift ends the two-decade partnership of
Lazaridis and Balsillie atop the once pioneering technology company.
The pair together built Lazaridis’ 1985 startup into a
global business. Both men, also two of RIM’s three largest shareholders with
more than 5% each, will remain board members while Lazaridis will stay
on as the head of a newly-created innovation committee.
“RIM have had big challenges in the past and they succeeded
in moving from a corporate product to be also a consumer product, to get a foot
in the consumer market and very few people expected them to do that,” consultant John Strand said.
“Now they have to reinvent themselves again.”
