Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) is now officially BlackBerry Limited. Thorsten Heins, during the launch of BlackBerry 10 a few months ago did announce that RIM will be re-named as BlackBerry. Though the users adopted the changes internally, the decision still had to be passed by the shareholders.
On Tuesday at the annual general meeting, shareholders agreed to change the name with 99.37 percent of people in favor.
Move makes sense
Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) has already changed its ticker symbol to BBRY, so the name change was always evident. Also, the move makes sense as the company for years have been printing BlackBerry on all its devices.
“We have re-invented our company and we want to reflect that in our brand,” Heins said back at the launch event.
Change in the name, though a small thing but it does signify that the handset maker is focused on the future. Transformation from Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) to BlackBerry will certainly help the company to leave behind the not so good moments, and increase focus on BlackBerry 10 and offerings based on it.
BBRY CEO discussed three stage turnaround
In the first quarter, Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB), now BlackBerry posted a loss of $67-million and shipped almost a million less devices as expected by some of the analysts.
In a move to comfort the investors, Heins told that analysts have overestimated the numbers and the estimates were ahead of the company’s guidance.
Mr. Heins asked the investors to be patient as 2013 will be “a year of transition” and touched upon the vision to transform the company from a device maker to an all-round service provider. The CEO gave three-stage turnaround process, and told that the company has already completed the first stage by launching a suite of new handsets and services based on new BlackBerry 10 operating system. Stage two will be investing more in BlackBerry 10 products and making use of the popular services like BlackBerry Messenger, by making it available on other platforms. Third stage will see the company returning to profitability, which won’t be until next year.
Apart from the change in names, shareholders also approve all nine directors up for election.
Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) stock was up 9 cents, or nearly 1 percent, to close Tuesday at $9.64.
