Posted July 12, 2012 by Rapid Carol in News

RIM CEO Thorsten Heins says RIM Can Be Successful

In a fast-paced and engaging conversation with RIM CEO Thorsten Heins, the seemingly unflappable (a stark contrast from his predecessor) Heins said his company is “looking at all options. That does not mean we are preferring one over the other.”

What exactly does “considering all strategic options for the company” mean?

“I think you understand that I can’t go into any further details,” said Heins, adding that RIM is undergoing a “strategic review of our potential avenues given the situation of the company. It’s sound and prudent business management to do this. We need to understand what our options are and need to be prepared.”

Describe RIM’s situation is a single word

“I would say ‘Challenged.’ ” Heins, however, wasn’t quite satisfied with this one word and added, “Transition”.

What are you transitioning from and to?

Heins explained that the whole industry is transitioning from “a world of mobile communication, a world of social networking, a world of wireless” to a “a new domain of mobile computing.” the capabilities on most mobile platforms is now, thanks to dual core processors, high-resolution screens and powerful graphics, comparable to what you’ll find in most desktops and laptops. The only difference, explained Heins, “is that we run off a little battery instead of a plug.”

With BlackBerry 10, it’s not just about the smartphone and tablet market, “we want to be a driver in the mobile computing space,” said Heins.

Does this mean RIM is ready to build laptops?

“Laptops is probably not something I would invest in these days. I believe enterprises and consumers will really look for mobile devices, like tablets and smartphones. …With BlackBerry 10, we really can mobilize the enterprisers, the consumers, the achievers. I think you will see a real mobilization of consumers and enterprise to just running with smartphone and tablets and getting services off the cloud.”

Are you thinking about a sale or merger?

“I go back to what I said. We’re looking at all options. That does not mean we are preferring one over the other.”

Heins explained that the team running the strategic option investigation is “a small team in the company.” The rest of RIM is “rallying around BlackBerry 10. The company is running behind BlackBerry 10 and not behind any strategic option that is open.”

Would you ever consider combining BlackBerry hardware with Windows Phone software?

“Define ‘ever.’ At the moment, the focus is very clear. We know we have a large customer base, actually growing — close to 80 million subs for BlackBerry services. [It’s a base we want] to serve, help, excite. Best thing to do is [deliver] BlackBerry 10 with competitive hardware.”

Are you really selling the company jet?

“It’s looked at as part of the cost-reduction program that we’re running. Do we need it? If a corporate jet is part of that program, then it’s part of that program.”

What other cuts are you making?

“We have already basically identified $300 million of initiatives against the $1 billion [total cuts], looking at key projects. Are they key to BlackBerry 10? Are they key to our future? We have scrubbed this all back to what’s really required to make this company successful.”

Why did you wait until after BlackBerry World to announce the BlackBerry 10 delay?

“Let me be really clear. We have not waited to announce it. As soon as we knew it, we announced it. We were on good track on developing all these software components and had a huge mound of software code flowing into main trunk; the huge influx destabilized the platform. We had to take the foot off the pedal for a while to stabilize before we let any new code in this platform.”

Are you still thinking about licensing BlackBerry 10?

“Yes, as part of the strategic review, that’s what we are assessing.”

What makes BlackBerry 10 Better than iOS and Android?

“It is first a fully new user interface that allows you to flow rather than being hooked up to a single app. Uses real-time multitasking capabilities of QNX architecture …. Also, to have, really, in the in-box, any social network you live in always have real-time info at your fingertips, to flow across these real-time channels. It’s extremely easy to navigate, to work on all your input communication and data channels.”

Do BlackBerry Enterprise Server and BlackBerry Internet Server have a future with BlackBerry 10?

“BlackBerry 10 still makes use of those networks and certain capabilities of those networks. Part of the new architecture we’re running with BlackBerry 10 and Mobile Fusion.”

How do you save/hold onto developing/emerging world markets?

“I think we have quite a position of strength there. These are these markets that are extremely high use of BBM (BlackBerry Messenger). Not just a handset play, we’re really connected with BBM. Is it a competitive space? It surely is.” Heins added though that the metrics for success are different in these emerging markets where there’s a high devotion to QWERTY keyboard-based devices and a need for efficient handling of data on low-bandwidth networks — many of these markets are still on 2G and 3G cellular networks. Heins explained that the BlackBerry 7 platform (which is shipping on the newest handsets delivered to those markets, the 9320 and the 9220) automatically compresses network traffic.

Do you consider the PlayBook a success?

“I consider the PlayBook a success insofar as it has taught us to build toward BlackBerry platform. [It was] an important step to prove the platform and then make the architecture for BlackBerry 10.”

Heins, though, admitted that the launch had not gone smoothly. “We had some lessons to learn for how to bring the product to market,” he said, calling it a “bumpy road.”

Ever the cheerleader, Heins told me there are “lots of people out there that love” the PlayBook. Developers are, by Heins’s measure, jumping on the platform, and he insisted that it’s a great gaming device. “The gaming community loves it.”

Heins also promised that the PlayBook will be ready for BlackBerry 10, and that apps that work on the tablet today will work on it with BlackBerry 10 next year.

“When I travel, I don’t take a laptop with me, I take the PlayBook. It helps me,” said Heins.

I truly believe we’re just at the bringing of this now.

Can RIM be saved?

“I believe that RIM can be successful; otherwise I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing.”

The interview was over, I had asked my last allotted question, but I threw in one more:

You have a degree in physics: What do you make of the Higgs boson discovery?

I could almost hear Heins smile.

“I’m pretty excited, I haven’t worked in atomic physics for a while [but] I’m very excited about it. It proves a whole model we all assumed for 20 or 15 years. We needed proof for what gives our universe mass and dimension.”

Sounding almost giddy, Heins repeated how the discovery is “very exciting” and then added, “Sometimes I take my old physics books and read through them and I love it.”

If Heins gets his way and RIM recaptures its former mobile market dominance, it’s unlikely he’ll be cracking open any of those physics books again any time soon.

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Via Mashable