[BoloMKXXVIII]

ZD Net has a very disturbing article. Seems like at the very least the Co-CEOs will be gone. I hope that is all that happens.

RIM has "lost it": Shareholders call for company break-up, or sell-off | ZDNet

[Wangta]

Not surprised.

[barkomatic]

I just hope they are able to push out the promised PB update before any of this may happen. If not, I don't we'll ever get it.

[alnamvet68]

Jaguar owns 8% of RIMM shares; they're a bank...and they're trying to drum up support from the sharholders. They want RIM to break up into 3 separate entities, a device/hardware division, a patent company, and a network company. May not be a bad thing, but I don't trust Jaguar's motives, which appear to me to be purely selfish and self serving. The one thing that would give RIM the kick in the azz that it so desperately needs is a major change in the top leadership, and infusion of new blood in the corporate decision making ranks.

[bb-bandit]

ZD Net has a very disturbing article. Seems like at the very least the Co-CEOs will be gone. I hope that is all that happens.

RIM has "lost it": Shareholders call for company break-up, or sell-off | ZDNet

It's not disturbing. This is what RIM needs to do to survive. Sadly, though, RIM is in very bad shape. They don't have a Steve Jobs to rehire as Apple once did.

[asherwiin]

ZD Net has a very disturbing article. Seems like at the very least the Co-CEOs will be gone. I hope that is all that happens.

RIM has "lost it": Shareholders call for company break-up, or sell-off | ZDNet

Doesn't mean at all that the CEO's are going away.

The article and others on the same subject matter are referring to issue of governance. The two co-CEO's are also co-chairmen of the Board, and for a while now there has been increasing pressure to have the CEO's relinguish their Board roles. From a governance perspective having an independant director act as chair instead of the CEO's is probably long overdue.

CEO's are ultimately accountable to the Board of Directors, but when the CEO's are also Chairs of the Board, it gets a bit messy.

[PineappleUnderTheSea]

Jaguar owns 8% of RIMM shares; they're a bank...and they're trying to drum up support from the sharholders. They want RIM to break up into 3 separate entities, a device/hardware division, a patent company, and a network company. May not be a bad thing, but I don't trust Jaguar's motives, which appear to me to be purely selfish and self serving. The one thing that would give RIM the kick in the azz that it so desperately needs is a major change in the top leadership, and infusion of new blood in the corporate decision making ranks.

I agree. Breaking RIM up sounds like a good idea on paper, but I don't trust investment bankers. Something needs to be done, though.

You know things are bad when they price the PB at $199 over Christmas, and that still doesn't appear to have depleted inventories, so now they need another sale at $299. Something needs to be done to appeal to the general public, maybe new leadership will achieve that.

[Blacklac]

This isn't the News and Rumors forum.

[Chaddface]

This isn't the News and Rumors forum.

Since when?

[tayl0rd]

Break it up into what? A phone division and a tablet division? Doesn't make sense. Or possibly an app/software division and a hardware division? That's a great way to start having unimplemented/unsupported features and promises across all devices.

[Unsure2]

Yeah, except in terms of selling off some of the assets, I can't see that the breakup idea would help.

[Thud Hardsmack]

Since when?

Since the dawn of literacy. Click here for News and Rumors.

[peter9477]

Jaguar owns 8% of RIMM shares; they're a bank...and they're trying to drum up support from the sharholders. They want RIM to break up into 3 separate entities, a device/hardware division, a patent company, and a network company. May not be a bad thing, but I don't trust Jaguar's motives, which appear to me to be purely selfish and self serving. ....

Small correction: Jaguar does NOT own 8% of RIM shares. They actually have far less, but they do claim to have the support of shareholders possessing 8% of RIM shares. At least one article from the fall, however, interviews several of those shareholders and it was very clear from their comments they are not fully backing Jaguar's position. The whole picture was far more ambiguous than Jaguar would have you believe. Jaguar has been unwilling to say how many shares they have, presumably because it's such a small number they would lose whatever credibility they have in the matter if people knew.

I too, have no trust in Jaguar's motives, and still believe RIM's future success will be far greater by sticking to their guns on their strategy (involving QNX as well as the many acquisitions they're integrating) than it would be by butchering the company and selling off the parts for spare cash. Changes at the board level can probably only help, however, so I have no problems with that whole area, so long as it lets the co-CEOs be more focused on what they actually do best.

[djnshores]

A similar article provides a more indepth look at RIM's management. It is very unusual indeed that co-CEO's are also co-Chairs of the board. The traditional checks and balances of an independent board is not there.

It also mentions why it would be nearly impossible to completely get rid of the two co-CEO's. The are co-Founders and combined own 12% of the outstanding stock which gives them tremendous power to determine their destiny.

Earlier they agreed to an independent financial review. The reviewer will likely wind up as Chairperson.

The CEO's would have a hard time fighting the change given RIMS's disasters this year.

What this means for the Playbook is anyone's guess. I have a vested interest in seeing the Playbook survive. It would not make Blackberry customers happy to have the Playbook abandoned.

DailyTech - Report: BlackBerry Maker RIM is Set to Boot Co-Chairmen After Struggles

[Chaddface]

Since the dawn of literacy. Click here for News and Rumors.

I'm aware. None of the faces seemed to fit my tone at the time.

[nadhari]

1. RIM is not getting rid of it's CEO's as interpreted by many. Lazaridis and Balsilli will continue to serves as the CEO's. The current rumor/news is about them serving as chairman (which they do along with their CEO titles) and this is in line with a July decision made by RIM about restructuring its governance structure

2. The current reduction in price is not a bad indication of the $199 fire sale. If any, this shows to me that they have managed to sell many pieces of the 16GB and the 32 GB. Otherwise they would not have increased the price of the 16GB from $199 to $299 and the 32GB from $249 to $299. This current price reduction seems to be aimed at getting rid of the 64GB models.

3. I do not have the in-depth inside knowledge about RIM, but i do not see how they can break up the company and multiple divisions. They may not be able to break into a phone and tablet division, especially with their road map focusing on a unified OS in the future. And remember the unified OS is not a bad idea by itself. There is a reason why Microsoft is planning to bring about Windows 8 as an unified OS across multiple platforms. Apple is doing the same too. It lets for cross platform apps to be developed, thus a bigger market place. It reduces R&D cost, but at the same time, focuses all expenses on the development of a better product.

The other option is to spin off the hardware and software as a service as a separate division, but their products are so closely integrated. The OS development is already consumed by Android (and windows in the future), that it leaves no room for immediate gain, which the company wants.

4. I am not an avid blackberry user, infact the first BB device i owned is the playbook. The only reason i brought it in the first place was because they sold it for a damn $199. But i must say that i am starting to love it. It is better (faster and fluid) than the iPad I have. The apps arnt great, but they have come a long way since i had the device 3 week back.

All i can say to current BB fans is that the media always has to come up with some fancy news to keep us interested, and they will. It dosent me they are right