Dive Brief:
-
BlackBerry Ltd has named Carl Wiese, who spent the past 12 years at Cisco Systems Inc., head of global sales.
-
The move comes after BlackBerry posted unexpectedly weak sales growth in the first quarter.
- Wiese will replace John Sims, who was at the company for 18 months.
Dive Insight:
BlackBerry has experienced falling revenue from smartphone sales and is now counting on revenue from device-management software to replace its traditional service fee structure.
Chief Executive John Chen set a software revenue target of $500 million for the current fiscal year, but some analysts are skeptical. BlackBerry shares slid to a 13-month low on the NASDAQ last week.
The company is expected to unveil a new Android-based smartphone before the end of the year in an effort to increase hardware sales.
