Research In Motion Ltd.'s
RIMM +7.06% new chief executive faces two bleak options: Attempt a bold turnaround of the embattled BlackBerry maker, or find a willing buyer. Neither will be an easy task.
RIM said sales of BlackBerrys fell sharply in the latest quarter, leading to the company's first revenue decline in seven years. Its subscriber growth rate from the previous quarter also hit an all-time low of 3%. And two of RIM's top officers stepped down, leaving RIM's executive bench as shallow as it has ever been.
Meanwhile, morale has flagged amid the unrest, according to executives inside and outside the company.
At a dinner meeting in February between RIM's chief technology officer, David Yach, one of the executives who left Thursday, and chief information officers from companies and government agencies, including the Department of Defense, the mood from the RIM side was somber, according to a person who attended the dinner.
"It was like going to a wake," this person said.