Mobile phone company looks to regain market share lost to Apple
BlackBerry maker Research in Motion said on Tuesday that it had hired two new senior executives, including a marketing chief, as the company looks to regain market share lost to Apple's iPhone.
RIM said Frank Boulben will be the new chief marketing officer, a job that new CEO Thorsten Heins described as critically important for the struggling Canadian company.
Boulben, 45, served as executive vice-president of strategy and marketing at LightSquared, a wireless company that has been struggling since US regulators moved to kill its proposed nationwide broadband network.
Boulben also held senior positions at wireless carriers Vodafone and Orange.
Kristian Tear is the new chief operating officer. Tear, 48, was executive vice president of Sony Mobile Communications, a unit of another struggling technology company, Sony Corp.
Heins said both possess a keen understanding of the rapidly changing wireless market and will help sharpen RIM's focus.