New RIM CEO plans to convince existing Blackberry users to upgrade
Thorsten Heins, RIM’s new CEO is yet to reveal his plans for the ailing Canadian phone manufacturer. We will get to know about the CEO’s plans once he presents it to RIM’s board in a few weeks. However, he has apparently given tidbits of these plans while taking to Reuters, Wall Street Journal, and Bloomberg.
The first on the list is trying to convince existing Blackberry users to upgrade their devices to the latest hardware the company has to offer. According to RIM’s findings, 80 to 90% of their customers do not own device running on the latest Blackberry software, which is Blackberry OS 7. Devices running on the most current software are handsets such as the Curve 9360, the Torch 9860, and the Bold Touch 9900.
How does the CEO plan to do this? RIM will be working closely with US network operators in promoting attractive deals to get customers to upgrade. Unfortunately, Heins failed to mention what we should expect with these deals. However, he did suggest that the deals would include app or device bundles. This would be the plan until RIM’s Blackberry 10 devices hit shelves later during the year.
Aside from these promotions, the CEO also said that a 4G Playbook would be landing in spring. Unfortunately, this isn’t significant news for the UK, since 4G networks are expected to become reality only in 2013 if Ofcom gets its way.
Furthermore, Heins did mention that RIM was working closely with US networks to get their customers to upgrade. Are there any plans for the same deal in other markets such as the UK? We’ll just have to wait and see.
Do you think RIM’s new CEO, Thorsten Heins, can turn things around for RIM? Give us your thoughts.
