VR-Zone

 

The duo made the shock announcement at a press conference at the company's headquarters in Waterloo, Canada. They said they recognised that the company needed to change and they thought that now was the time for them to go.

 

Lazaridis founded the company in 1984 and will maintain a role as vice chairman, but Balsillie will only keep his role on the board of directors. Thorsten Heins, current chief operating officer, will replace them as CEO. Barbara Stymiest will also replace the two as chairman.

 

 

The company has been struggling to compete with rivals like Apple and Google, which have been steadily stealing its market share, even in the business smartphone sector, which it previously dominated. RIM's failure to keep up and adapt to the changing market has sent its share plummeting in recent months by as much as 75 percent.

 

"As with any company that has grown as fast as we have, there have been inevitable growing pains," said Heins. "We have learned from those challenges and, I believe, we have and will become a stronger company as a result."

 

Many analysts see today's move as an essential step in the right direction for the company, which might just rescue it from free-fall and make it a viable contender to the smartphone throne again.

 

Source: BBC