Telecom Lead America: Blackberry maker Research In Motion
(RIM) is losing two more senior executives as the company embarks on a
strategic overhaul.
Alan Brenner, senior vice president for the BlackBerry platform, will leave after
a transition period, and Alistair Mitchell, vice president for the BlackBerry
Messenger instant messaging product, has already left, said RIM spokeswoman
Tenille Kennedy.
A stream of executives has left RIM in the past year.
Last week, RIM said it would stop issuing financial
forecasts and that it was reviewing strategic options, such as entering
partnerships and joint ventures or licensing its software.
Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins would not rule out a possible sale of
the company.
RIM posted a net loss of $125 million.
RIM is currently seeking a chief marketing officer and a chief operating
officer.
In July RIM slashed 2,000 jobs, or about 11 percent of its workforce, to cut
costs as sales and profit fell. Its developer relations and sales and marketing
teams were particularly hard hit.
Head of marketing Keith Pardy left in March 2011, before RIM launched its
PlayBook tablet, which fared poorly.
Two of his staff later moved to Samsung Electronics, according to a report in
Reuters.
Chief Operating Officer Don Morrison resigned in July. A second COO, Jim Rowan,
left last week along with Chief Technology Officer David Yach.
Jeff McDowell, senior vice president for platform marketing and alliances, left
RIM last July and Tyler Lessard, senior vice president for global alliances and
developer relations, left in September.
