RIM Rebrands finally to BlackBerry

This was a massive week for Research In Motion, which announced its long-anticipated BlackBerry 10 OS, two new smartphones and a major corporate rebranding.

Keen to draw a line under a frustrating period marred by delayed product launches and share losses, RIM changed its company name to BlackBerry on Wednesday. The Waterloo, Ontario-based company will trade under the ticker symbol "BBRY" from Feb. 4.

The Canadian handset maker unveiled its new BlackBerry 10 operating system and two new smartphones: the Z10 and Q10. The Z10 is a touchscreen device with a 4.2-inch display, while the Q10 comes with a physical QWERTY keyboard.

Clearly intent on injecting some youthful vitality into the company's image, BlackBerry also appointed Alicia Keys as the company's new global creative director. Investors, however, were unmoved by the flurry of announcements, and the company's shares fell sharply in the hours following Wednesday's news.

BlackBerry also offered a brief glimpse of the company's Super Bowl ad on Friday while the company's shares ended the week down nearly 26% at $13.02. Chief Executive Thorsten Heins has announced that RIM was abandoning the name it has used since its inception in 1985 to take the name of its signature product, signaling his hopes for a fresh start for the company that pioneered on-your-hip email.

"From this point forward, RIM becomes BlackBerry," Heins said at the New York launch. "It is one brand; it is one promise." RIM, which is already starting to call itself BlackBerry, had initially planned to launch the new BlackBerry 10 smartphones in 2011. But it pushed the date back twice as it struggled to work with a new operating system.

"The biggest disappointment was the delay in the U.S., that it will take so long before the devices get going there," said Eric Jackson, founder and managing Partner at Ironfire Capital LLC in New York. Heins said the delays reflected the need for U.S. carrier testing, although carrier AT&T offered few clues on what that meant.

"We are very enthusiastic about the devices. We will announce pricing, availability, and other information at a later date. Beyond that, nothing to add," said spokesman Mark Siegel. RIM launched its first BlackBerry back in 1999 as a way for busy executives to stay in touch with their clients and their offices, and the Canadian company quickly cornered the market for secure corporate and government email.

But its star faded as competition rose. The BlackBerry is now a far-behind also-ran in the race for market share, with a 3.4 percent global showing in the fourth quarter, down from 20 percent three years before. Its North American market share is even worse: a mere 2 percent in the fourth quarter.

RIM shares tumbled along with the company's market share, and the stock is down 90 percent from its 2008 peak. The shares fell as much as 8 percent on Wednesday, although they are still more than twice the level of their September 2012 low, reflecting ever-louder buzz about the new devices.