Research In Motion’s (RIM) two co-CEOs – Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie – resigned from their positions with immediate effect over the weekend, appearing to bow to shareholder pressure for a change in leadership at the struggling BlackBerry-maker.

Lazaridis and Balsillie – who were also co-chairmen – are to be succeeded by Thorsten Heins, who has been named president and CEO, effective immediately. A former Siemens executive, Heins has been at RIM since December 2007, becoming COO (product and sales) in August last year.

"There comes a time in the growth of every successful company when the founders recognise the need to pass the baton to new leadership,” said Lazaridis. “Jim and I went to the board and told them that we thought that time was now.”

“With BlackBerry 7 now out, PlayBook 2.0 shipping in February and BlackBerry 10 expected to ship later this year, the company is entering a new phase, and we felt it was time for a new leader to take it through that phase and beyond," he added.

Lazaridis – who founded the firm in 1984 – will become vice-chairman of RIM’s board and chairman of the board’s new Innovation Committee. Balsillie will stay on as a member of the board.

Lazaridis and Balsillie have found themselves under increasing pressure to resign in recent months as RIM’s share price has plummeted, leading for calls for the company to be either sold or broken up. Last year, the firm also suffered the ignominy of a high-profile network outage and a major product flop with its poorly-received PlayBook tablet.

Against this backdrop, some major shareholders have questioned the wisdom of having Lazaridis and Balsillie as both co-CEO and co-chairmen and called for a governance overhaul.

Incoming CEO Heins appeared to dismiss any thoughts of a sale or break-up of the firm, instead talking up its “strong foundations for growth.”

“We have a strong balance sheet with approximately US$1.5 billion in cash at the end of the last quarter and negligible debt,” Heins said. “We reported revenue of US$5.2 billion in our last quarter, up 24 per cent from the prior quarter, and a 35 per cent year-to-year increase in the BlackBerry subscriber base, which is now over 75 million.”

He added that RIM was also in the process of recruiting a new chief marketing officer to “work closely with our product and sales teams to deliver the most compelling products and services.”

Google provided an update on its mobile performance as part of its Q4 2011 results release, stating that cumulatively there have been 250 million Android device activations – up 50 million since an announcement made in November 2011.

The company reiterated that 700,000 Android activations are made every day, although during the peak Christmas holiday sales period 3.7 million devices were activated in just two days. The company also said that 11 billion downloads had been made from Android Market – the 10 billion milestone having been reached in December 2011.

For the company as a whole, it reported a fourth quarter net profit of US$2.71 billion, up 6.4 per cent year-on-year, on revenue of US$10.58 billion, up 25.4 per cent. The period marked the first quarter where it passed the US$10 billion revenue mark.

Google’s earnings failed to meet analyst expectations, however, due to a number of issues including a fall in pricing for its core search advertising business and pressure in its international activities.

The company  also said it plans to break-out the results for Motorola Mobility once its US$12.5 billion acquisition of this business is completed.

Sony Ericsson has reported a net loss of €207 million (US$265 million) for the fourth quarter of 2011, compared to a profit of €8 million a year earlier. Revenues also dropped by 16 per cent, to €1.29 billion.

For the full year, the company posted a loss of €247 million, compared to a profit of €90 million in 2010, and revenues of €5.2 billion, compared to €6.3 billion in 2010.

"Our fourth quarter results reflected intense competition, unfavourable macroeconomic conditions and the effects of a natural disaster in Thailand this quarter," commented Bert Nordberg, president and CEO of Sony Ericsson.

The manufacturer shipped nine million devices in the fourth quarter, a 20 per cent decrease year-on-year and a five per cent decrease compared to last quarter. The year-on-year and sequential declines reflect a significantly lower number of feature phones shipped, partially offset by an increase in smartphone shipments.

Sony Ericsson has shipped 28 million Xperia smartphones to date.

The company estimated that its share of the global Android-based smartphone market was 10 per cent in volume and seven per cent in value during the quarter and 10 per cent in volume and 10 per cent in value for the full year.

Average selling price (ASP) for the quarter was €143, up five per cent year-on-year but down 14 per cent sequentially. The year-on-year increase is due to the shift to smartphones and geographic mix.

Vodafone is reported to have moved a step closer to the long anticipated stock market listing of its Indian subsidiary after it appointed the investment bank NM Rothschild to assist in its listing plans.

The company held a preliminary briefing last month with investors and analysts where it outlined the Indian subsidiary’s performance, and in light of ongoing disputes, the regulatory risk inherent in the Indian market.

When asked about Rothschild’s appointment, a Vodafone India spokesperson told local media in India that it is already known that the cellco is preparing itself for a potential IPO in the future.

Last April, Vodafone was reported to be considering offering up a 10 per cent stake to the public through the IPO.

In July 2011, Vodafone agreed terms for the buy-out of former partner Essar from its Indian mobile phone business. The UK firm paid US $5.46 billion for Essar’s 33 per cent stake, raising its own stakeholding 74 per cent. The other 26 per cent is owned by Indian investors, in compliance with Indian law.

Telecom Egypt has named Tarek Aboualam as CEO and MD with effect from January 19, 2012.

Telecom Egypt’s outgoing CEO, Mohammed Abdel Rehim Hassanein is stepping down as he reaches his retirement age. 

Aboualam joined Telecom Egypt in May 2009 as VP, International & Wholesale and was subsequently promoted to senior V P in June 2011.

Telecom Egypt owns 44 per cent of Vodafone Egypt.