Smartphone pioneers Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis are stepping down from their chief executive roles at struggling BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion Ltd. in a dramatic shakeup that will see Thorsten Heins take the leadership reins as CEO.

“Mike and Jim took a bold step 18 months ago when RIM purchased QNX to shepherd the transformation of the BlackBerry platform for the next decade,” Heins, who will sit on the board, said in a news release. “We are more confident than ever that was the right path.”

In an interview with the Star Sunday night, Heins blasted critics who have dismissed RIM as yesterday's company, saying it's still a solid financial performer.

“The perception just doesn't match the reality,” Heins told the Star. “We've got $1.5 billion in the bank, and virtually no debt. We've also got a 75 million subscriber base.”

A plummeting share in the U.S. smartphone market isn't the only measuring stick RIM should be judged by, Heins said.

“It's not just smartphones. We've got a data network, we've got services,” said Heins. “In a lot of countries around the world, we're the No. 1 smartphone maker. In the U.S., yes, there's a challenge.”

The biggest challenge in the U.S., says Heins, isn't RIM's technology, but its communications efforts.

“I think we need to do a better job of communicating with consumers,” said Heins.

Heins also praised Lazaridis and Balsillie for stepping back from the company they turned into one of the world's best-known technology brands. It was a tough decision for them, he admitted.

“How would you feel? They created an icon. They took it from a $294 million company into a $20 billion one,” said Heins. “They saw it coming, and they prepared the company for it.”

The constant takeover rumours have been frustrating, Heins admitted.

“You can't let frustration guide your decision-making,” he said. “But the people I feel bad for when I read those stories is our employees. They're talented, hard-working people.”

PHOTOS: Shakeup at RIM

RIM also announced late Sunday that company director and former Royal Bank of Canada executive Barbara Stymiest will assume the role of independent chair. Board member Prem Watsa will become independent director.

The moves follow months of investor agitation for Balsillie and Lazaridis to relinquish their co-chair roles to allow more independent oversight of executive decisions.

The changes, which are effective immediately, follow a sharp decline of the BlackBerry brand in the U.S. market in the wake of delays and missteps in introducing new products and a failure to keep pace with rivals including Apple Inc. and devices running Google Inc.'s popular Android software.

Heins, who joined RIM from Siemens Communications Group in December 2007 and became RIM's chief operating officer for product and sales last August, said he will continue to collaborate closely with Lazaridis and Balsillie.

READ MORE: Who is Barbara Stymiest?

RIM added in a statement that the executive and board changes are the result of a recommendation from its co-chief executives to implement the succession plan they previously submitted to the board.

Lazaridis is transitioning to vice-chair of RIM's board and will chair the board's new innovation committee.

“There comes a time in the growth of every successful company when the founders recognize the need to pass the baton to new leadership,” he said in a news release. “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.

“Jim, the board and I all agreed that leader should be Thorsten Heins.”

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“I agree this is the right time to pass the baton to new leadership, and I have complete confidence in Thorsten, the management team and the company,” Balsillie said in the release.

Tech analyst Carmi Levy says leadership change at RIM was expected, but it has taken much longer than it should have.

“They should have acted on it months ago, and now RIM would have been deeper into transition,” said Levy.

“The good news for RIM's stakeholders is that they are not just vacating the co-CEO roles, but the co-chairman role. It signals a significant change. It's not just lip service.”

However, Levy said that some investors will question how fundamental a change this is, given an insider is being promoted to the top job.

“That's the eyebrow raiser. They didn't go outside,” he said. “It's fair to ask whether this is the fresh set of eyes that RIM needs at this time.”

Levy noted that the BlackBerry maker has chosen to promote the chief operating officer to the top job, just as main rival Apple Inc. picked Tim Cook to succeed Steve Jobs.

Like Cook, Heins is a telecom veteran with significant experience on the operations side.

“An operating expert and strategic visionary are often different things,” he said. “It's sometimes tough to step out of the shadows of inspirational leaders.”

Vic Alboini, chairman and CEO of Jaguar Financial, said RIM should have gone further with its changes.

"I think it's a good first step, but it doesn't go far enough," said Alboini, a vocal critic of the dual CEO structure at RIM.

Having Balsillie and Lazaridis remain on the board is a mistake, as was making Stymiest the chair, said Alboini.

"She's been on that board for four years. She's been part of the problem," he said.

With files from Josh Rubin and Vanessa Lu