Many were taken aback when recently appointed Research In Motion (RIM) CEO Thorsten Heins said he didn't think any "significant change" was needed for the BlackBerry maker to succeed going forward. Heins took time out to clarify those statements recently in an interview with Crackberry.com.
"I was talking about drastic or seismic changes," Heins told Crackberry. "What I was trying to address was that there was some suggestion that RIM should be split up or should even be sold. My true belief is that RIM has the strength and the assets that we can really succeed in this market."
RIM is in the process of transitioning to its QNX-based BlackBerry 10 platform and version 2.0 of its PlayBook software, which will allow users to download and run apps on the slate.
Heins pointed to a number of changes already underway at RIM. "There has been already a lot of change in terms of our software, our software platform, bringing QNX in. There is no standstill at any moment here at RIM."
Heins believes RIM's homegrown platform offers the company a kind of differentiation not available to Android OEMs. He called the handset business a "cut-throat price and cost competition," asking the rhetorical question, "Why would I throw [away] the value away of differentiating myself against the others?"
"Just take a look where the Android OEMs are," Heins noted. "I leave this to you. Take a look at their recent announcements and what you will immediately see is there is just no room for differentiation because they are all the same."
RIM is betting its life on the BB 10. The company has been losing market share at an alarming rate, and RIM stock has plummeted since a $70 52-week high back in February of 2010. As of this writing, shares of RIM were trading at $16.69.