Yet another executive will depart the company as it struggles to find relevancy in the smartphone business. February 10, 2014 1:10 PM PST BBM was a rare bright spot at BlackBerry. (Credit: CNET) BlackBerry said on Monday that the head of its BBM business was leaving the company. Andrew Bocking, executive vice president of BlackBerry and head of the messenger service, marks the latest in long line of departures by high-profile executive, including much of the C-level members. Bocking, however, was seen as an executive who could fit in with the new guard led by CEO John Chen. BlackBerry confirmed the pending departure to CNET. Related stories Octa-core BlackBerry reportedly in the works for 2015 Pentagon says it didn't buy 80,000 new BlackBerry phones BlackBerry may have some life left with Pentagon order BlackBerry stock soars on word of Pentagon order Report: BlackBerry World to offer Android apps BlackBerry's BBM messenger service has been a rare bright spot at a company that hasn't much good news to cheer about. The service saw an explosion of interest when it launched on iOS and Android, when it tallied 10 million downloads within the first 24 hours. Still, the cross-platform BBM launch wasn't without its hiccups, and Bocking served as the public face with regular updates on the company blog. BlackBerry declined to comment on the reason behind Bocking's departure, only noting that it was his decision. John Sims, head of global enterprise solutions, will oversee the BBM group, which will remain intact as a unit, the company said. BlackBerry is in the midst of turning itself around under Chen, who has promised to focus more on higher end business and government customers. Chen previously said during a press roundtable that he had big plans for BBM and its role in broader mobile communication.
Yet another executive will depart the company as it struggles to find relevancy in the smartphone business.
BBM was a rare bright spot at BlackBerry.
(Credit: CNET)
BlackBerry said on Monday that the head of its BBM business was leaving the company.
Andrew Bocking, executive vice president of BlackBerry and head of the messenger service, marks the latest in long line of departures by high-profile executive, including much of the C-level members. Bocking, however, was seen as an executive who could fit in with the new guard led by CEO John Chen. BlackBerry confirmed the pending departure to CNET.
Related stories
- Octa-core BlackBerry reportedly in the works for 2015
- Pentagon says it didn't buy 80,000 new BlackBerry phones
- BlackBerry may have some life left with Pentagon order
- BlackBerry stock soars on word of Pentagon order
- Report: BlackBerry World to offer Android apps
BlackBerry's BBM messenger service has been a rare bright spot at a company that hasn't much good news to cheer about. The service saw an explosion of interest when it launched on iOS and Android, when it tallied 10 million downloads within the first 24 hours. Still, the cross-platform BBM launch wasn't without its hiccups, and Bocking served as the public face with regular updates on the company blog.
BlackBerry declined to comment on the reason behind Bocking's departure, only noting that it was his decision.
John Sims, head of global enterprise solutions, will oversee the BBM group, which will remain intact as a unit, the company said.
BlackBerry is in the midst of turning itself around under Chen, who has promised to focus more on higher end business and government customers. Chen previously said during a press roundtable that he had big plans for BBM and its role in broader mobile communication.
