Blackberry boss under pressure from investors to revive fortunes

Research In Motion’s new leader said yesterday the Blackberry maker did not need seismic change, a declaration seized on by impatient investors who pledge Thorsten Heins will be an interim chief executive if he does not turn RIM around quickly.

Takeover talk swirled around RIM as Mr Heins took the helm at the struggling company, whose co-chiefs executive Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie finally bowed to investor pressure and resigned on Saturday.

Mr Heins, who joined RIM in 2007 and was previously a chief operating officer, yesterday said he would focus on a consumer push and a smooth delivery of its products, rather than allowing a churn of innovation to disrupt roll-out.

“We innovated while we were developing the product and that needs to stop,” Mr Heins said.

The changes did little to reassure investors. US-listed shares fell 6.4% to $15.90 early yesterday and key shareholders signalled they are impatient for improvement at a company that has lost market share and value to Apple and Google.

“If Thorsten really believes that there are no changes to be made, he will be gone within 15 to 18 months. He will be a transitional CEO and this will be a transitional board,” said Jaguar boss Vic Alboini, who leads a group of 16 RIM shareholders holding just under 10% of shares.