WATERLOO (dpa-AFX) - BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIMM, RIM.TO) announced Sunday that its Co-Chief Executive Officers Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis have stepped down after about two decades at the helm of the company. They are succeeded by Chief Operating Officer Thorsten Heins as President and CEO, who was also named a director of the company, both effective immediately. The move is part of a planned board and management rejig. 'There comes a time in the growth of every successful company when the founders recognize the need to pass the baton to new leadership. Jim and I went to the Board and told them that we thought that time was now,' Lazaridis said in a statement. Lazaridis added that he is so confident in RIM's future that he intends to purchase an additional $50 million of the company's shares, as permitted, in the open market. The company has now named Lazaridis as vice chairman of the Board, and will assist Heins in order to provide a smooth transition and for the promotion of the BlackBerry brand worldwide. Meanwhile, Balsillie remains a director. Lazaridis, aged 50, has served as a director of the company since 1984 and was the co-founder, president and co-CEO and co-chairman of the board. Meanwhile, Balsillie, also aged 50, served as a director of the company from 1993 to February 2009 and was re-appointed as a director in May 2010. From 1992 to January 2012, he was co-CEO of the company. The company's shareholders have been baying for the blood of Balsillie and Lazaridis or a sale of the company for the past few months after the troubled Canadian mobile phone company reported poor results in the first quarter due to intense competition from rivals for smartphone and tablet computers. That was also followed by the disappointing forecast for second-quarter and fiscal 2012, as well as RIM's decision to streamline operations in the second quarter, including headcount reduction. RIM has been going through a lean patch after it lost marketshare as Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Samsung advanced with their smart phone offerings. Its Playbook has also received a mediocre response. The company's downslide has led to views that it should bring about management changes and split businesses. The company's shares have lost about 70 percent of their value last year on competition mainly from Apple, which has weaned away a sizable number of its customers. RIM once dominated the smartphone market with sleek and business-friendly devices. Heins, a German native aged 54, was most recently one of the company's two chief operating officers, overseeing the BlackBerry smartphone portfolio world-wide. Prior to that, he was senior vice president for the Handheld Business Unit. He is a respected business leader with 27 years of broad experience and expertise in wireless networks and consumer electronics devices. Prior to joining RIM in December 2007, Heins held several positions in the wireless arena including being CEO of Siemens AG's (SI) various business divisions in the communication business, its Chief Technology Officer of communications division and several general management positions in hardware and software businesses. He was also a member of the group board of the Siemens Communications Group. Heins also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Canadian German Chamber of Industry and Commerce Inc. RIMM closed Friday's regular trading session at $17.00, down $0.57 or 3.24% on a volume of 18.13 million shares, lower than the three-month average volume of 22.91 million shares. In the past 52-week period, the stock has been trading in a range of $18.02 to $70.54. RIM.TO closed on the TSX at C$17.24, down $0.55 or 3.09% on a volume of 1.92 million shares.
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