While pundits have been quick to lay the blame for Research in Motion’s problems at the feet of its co-founders, a new report reveals that one of them actually attempted “a radical shift in strategy” before throwing his hands in the air and walking away.
Reuters is reporting that former co-CEO Jim Balsillie actually pushed for Research in Motion to follow a new course of action prior to stepping down from the company he helped to found, according to two sources close to the company.
“Balsillie hoped to allow major wireless companies in North America and Europe to provide service for non-BlackBerry devices routed through RIM's proprietary network, a major break with the BlackBerry-only strategy pursued by RIM since its inception,” the report reveals. “The plan would have let the carriers use the RIM network to offer inexpensive data plans, limited to social media and instant messaging, to entice low-tier customers to upgrade from no-frills phones to smartphones.”
Such a move was widely rumored in recent months, but quickly denied by RIM. Critics of the BlackBerry maker have been quick to throw blame for the company’s lack of recent innovation in co-founder Balsillie’s direction, shared equally with Mike Lazaridis. The new report seems to indicate that the company’s new management -- which still includes Lazaridis -- may have been resistant to change, instead pinning their hopes on BlackBerry 10 handsets set to arrive later this year.
“Balsillie's plan may have heralded a broader strategic move by RIM to define its high-margin network services -- which bring in around $1 billion a quarter -- as a business that's distinct from building and marketing the BlackBerry,” the report adds. “That hardware business may have lost money last year.”
Balsillie reportedly held discussions about this proposed new strategy with AT&T and Verizon in the U.S., as well as Vodafone, T-Mobile, Telefonica and France Telecom in Europe. “At least one major Canadian carrier” was also citied in the report.
The co-founder may have cut ties with Research in Motion after stepping down from as a board director recently, but Balsillie continues to be one of the company’s largest shareholders with a five percent stake in RIM.
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(Image courtesy of Reuters)
Brian Wilson
April 14, 2012 at 11:36pm
Can't blame him for throwing up his arms and heading out, but you've to wonder why he bothered keeping his money in RIM if he really had no faith left in the platform. To be fair diversifying the operating system by allowing third party hardware would probably be a good business move for RIM, it may have been a major game changer had they done it earlier on. I still think that they're far from dead, as many skeptics seem to be rattling off about. Apple has been at this point at least at one point in the past. Take a look at how a few good business decisions created the momentum needed to propel them into the vibrant company they are today. RIM still has potential, I suppose in time we'll find out if their management is viable enough to make use of it.
