RIM’s Co-CEOs Step Down, Former COO Takes the Helm

Breaking news out of Waterloo, Canada tonight. Research In Motion’s Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie have stepped down from their co-CEO roles. The company’s former COO, Thorsten Heins, has been tapped as their replacement.

RIM’s board of directors and major stock holders have been calling for the move for quite some time now. The company, which was once a major player in the smartphone industry, is now holding on to a dismal 6% of the market…

Meet RIM’s new CEO, Thorsten Heins:

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUFwhpcrCTw[/tube]

Heins certainly has his work cut out for him. RIM, although still technically turning a profit, has received a library of bad press over the last few years due to missed launch dates and poor product performance (see PlayBook). Not to mention that it’s handing over the one thing it has going for it, the enterprise market, to Apple on a silver platter.

It’ll be interesting to see if the new CEO can turn the company around. RIM closed at $17 per share on Friday — more than $50 down from its 52 week high. And recent rumors have suggested that the BlackBerry-makers were considering selling out to — get this — Samsung.

Do You think Heins has what it takes to turn RIM back into the powerhouse that it once was? Or are Apple and Android too far ahead?