Research In Motion has won formal approval to change its name to the much more well-known and popular title: BlackBerry.
The company has operated under the BlackBerry title since it came out with its first device under the name. In 1999 the first e-mail pager was released under the title and made the Research in Motion the popular technology giant it is today. With the new line of BlackBerry 10 smartphones, the company has finally decided to fly its flag under the title that made it popular, even going as far as to change its stock ticker on the NASDAQ exchange to be BBRY and on the TSX exchange as BB.
"Research In Motion (RIM), a global leader in wireless innovation, revolutionized the mobile industry with the introduction of the BlackBerry solution in 1999. Since then, BlackBerry products and services have continued to change the way millions of people around the world stay connected," the company wrote on its website.
"With the launch of BlackBerry® 10, we have re-designed, re-engineered and re-invented BlackBerry. Not only did we introduce a new mobile experience to our global community of BlackBerry users, but we are also introducing a new name for the company."
Obviously the company has been going by the BlackBerry name for quite some time. However, a legal change of the name required the approval of the company's shareholders at Tuesday's annual meeting.
According to an AP story posted by ABC News, CEO Thorsten Heins told shareholders that Blackberry is in the second stage of its turnaround. The brand suffered when the sales numbers for its most recent quarter fell very short of expectations. The stock rose 27 cents, or almost 3 percent, to $9.82 in afternoon trading Tuesday. Still, the company hopes that its turnaround off the new BlackBerry 10 line of smartphones will help it become competitive with the likes of iPhone and Android. Heins says that stage three of the turnaround involves profitability.
