Over the last 20 years, Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis have been co-CEOs and co-chairmen at Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM). Now the company has promoted Thorsten Heins from the COO position to the President and CEO of RIM. The management shuffle happened in the midst of pressure from investors, but the company said it was not a reaction to the stock price. RIM’s investors have been disappointed with weakening sales at the company due to increased competition from Google and Apple.

Research In Motion has lost a ton of smartphone marketshare to Android and iOS. The company is also struggling to compete against the Apple iPad in the tablet market. This is why RIM co-founders Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie may give up their titles as co-chairmen according to sources with The Financial Post. Reportedly RIM is considering hiring Barbara Stymiest. Stymiest is currently an independent director that joined RIM’s board in 2007. Lazaridis and Balsillie would still have prominent roles on the board of directors if they were to be replaced by Stymiest.

At the recent shareholders meeting held by Research In Motion Limited (TSE:RIM), it was revealed that seven new BlackBerry devices will be arriving in the next couple months. RIM Co-CEO Jim Balsillie said that there will be several new devices launched “within rapid succession” next month. Three of the BlackBerry devices are expected to be the Bold 9900, the Touch 9680, and the Torch 9850. It is uncertain what the other four BlackBerry devices will be. [IntoMobile]

The BlackBerry Torch price dropped to $99 from $199 and this made RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie very happy. He said “That’s a dream come true… New pricing, new promo, right into the holiday season — what can I say? I couldn’t be happier,” stated Balsillie in an interview with Bloomberg. [Bloomberg]

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:CEO) Steve Jobs normally does not appear on earnings calls, but he did this past week. And he decided to go to town on his rivals. Jobs knocked on the “openness” of Google Android and RIM’s tablet computer. This sparked a debate. Below is some of the things that Jobs said and what some of the responses were.

This is a blow to BlackBerry non-believers: Research In Motion Limited (NASDAQ:RIMM) has sold a record number of BlackBerry devices this quarter. During RIM’s second fiscal quarter, revenues have increased 31% to $4.62 billion when compared to last year during the same period. RIM sold 12.1 million devices this quarter. This is a 45% increase in devices sold compared to a year ago. RIM now has about 50 million subscribers.

A couple of days ago Apple made an announcement about how they plan to handle the antenna issue for the iPhone 4. A presentation by Steve Jobs had the following statement: “We’re not perfect. Phones aren’t perfect.”

Jim Balsillie, the co-CEO of RIM has made a bid to import the Phoenix Coyotes to Canada by making a bid on the team.  He offered $212.5 million to the Coyotes yesterday after they filed for bankruptcy unexpectedly.  The offer will only remain in place if the team moves to South Ontario.  The current team owner Jerry Moyes is banned from having authority over the club.

The offer made by Balsillie consists of $80 million to SOF Investments, $35 million for the NHL, and $97.5 million to other creditors.  Balsillie is also offering $17 million in debtor-in-possession financing.  If anyone wants to outbid Balsillie, it must be $5 million higher and be fully funded at the closing of the deal.

In the past Balsillie has attempted to buy the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Nashville Predators.

[via Reuters]