RIM Marketer joins a Rival

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. has lost another senior marketing executive as it struggles with a product transition that has triggered profit warnings and a sharp share-price drop. Brian Wallace, RIM's Vice-President of Digital Marketing and Media, has left RIM for Samsung Telecommunications America. 

Wallace's departure comes amid a time of turmoil for Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM. The BlackBerry maker is bleeding market share in the U.S. as its ageing product line struggles to compete against Apple Inc.'s iPhone and devices powered by Google Inc.'s Android-operating system, such as Samsung's Galaxy. Last week, RIM's shares fell to five-year lows after the company issued disappointing second-quarter guidance and said it would begin reducing its head count.

Wallace is the latest senior departure from RIM's marketing department. Keith Pardy left the company in February after serving as chief marketing officer for two years. His departure came just weeks before RIM was to launch its PlayBook tablet, the company's most important rollout in years.

Last week, RIM also said that one of its three chief operating officers, Don Morrison, had left the company temporarily on medical leave and that he would eventually return. Meanwhile, RIM said Larry Conlee, a former COO who retired in 2009, has returned in an advisory role. RIM representatives have not commented specifically on Conlee's role at the company or on how Morrison's duties are being handled during his medical leave.