RIM Names New COO, Marketing Head

Looking to make a big splash with its soon-to-be-launched Blackberry 10 platform, Research in Motion retooled its executive team on Tuesday by filling two long-vacant leadership positions.

Kristian Tear, former executive vice president of Sony Mobile Communications, will join RIM as its new chief operating officer. Tear, who previously held various leadership positions at Ericsson, will oversee all of RIM's operational functions, including R&D, global sales, manufacturing and supply chain.

The Blackberry maker also appointed Frank Boulben, former executive vice president at wireless startup LightSquared, to the role of chief marketing officer. Before his time at LightSquared, Boulben held a number of commercial strategy and marketing roles at European telecoms Orange and Vodafone.

The hires do raise certain questions considering each executive is coming off a stint with a company that is struggling right alongside RIM, which recently saw its share price drop to a near-decade low.

"Neither of these professionals has been involved in a successful turnaround of this magnitude," Sameet Kanade, an analyst at Northern Securities, told Bloomberg. "We expect these appointments to benefit RIM’s international strategy more than the immediate short-term need, which is to fix its product strategy and regain market share in North America."

Ceding market share each quarter to the likes of Apple and Samsung, RIM is banking on its new line of Blackberry smartphones to help resuscitate a company mired in a multi-year slump. RIM shares have tumbled nearly 75 percent in the past year as consumers and enterprise employees are gravitating toward devices with richer ecosystems.

Tear and Boulben are each taking a risk coming on board during a transitional period for RIM under the leadership of new CEO Thorsten Heins, who took the head job in January. Rumors have begun to surface that RIM is considering a more radical business strategy, and could be mulling over the idea of taking on a partner or being sold.

Sources told Bloomberg last month that the Canadian phone maker is in talks with at least two financial institutions that have experience advising companies through a strategic review process.