Research in Motion, the Waterloo, Ontario-based manufacturer of the once mighty BlackBerry line of smartphones and devices, on Thursday announced that three top executives are leaving the company, including co-founder Jim Balsillie, chief technology officer David Yach and chief operating officer of global operations Jim Rowan, the blog Crackberry first reported.
The departures, which were chalked up to retirements and resignations, came as RIM reported its extremely dour, some might even say dire, fourth quarter earnings, with shipments down 21 percent and $125 million net loss. The departures also came on the heels of a Globe and Mail report that RIM’s new CEO, Thorsten Heins, had begun axing executives left and right.
RIM has been struggling to retain its once dominant market share in smartphones as formerly loyal customers, especially those in business and government, have begun flocking over to Apple’s iPhone and Google’s various Android devices.
