Good news: New CEO at RIM, which needed new leadership like I need a Bloody Mary on New Year’s Day. Bad news? It’s business at usual:
RIM Chief Executive Thorsten Heins joined the company’s chairman of the board, Barb Stymiest, in a conference call with investors on Monday morning. It was the first chance for investors to hear from RIM’s new CEO, who took over on Sunday after co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie resigned.
Heins told analysts and investors that he is not pursuing strategic options for RIM like a sale of the company or a split. He also indicated he is focused on RIM’s current strategy, which involves the struggling PlayBook, a tablet that cost the company $485 million from unsold inventory last year.
Analyst Mike Abramsky with RBC Capital Markets said Heins seemed upbeat and optimistic about his new role at RIM. But he also said that RIM’s recent struggles have been a result of “process execution” and marketing, as opposed to product innovation.
Yes, introducing the world’s only tablet that couldn’t work your calendars or your email certainly had the virtue of never having been tried — but I still wouldn’t call that an innovation.
Fact is, RIM has failed on all counts, and had better start getting innovative in a hurry if it’s to survive.
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