Blackberry Hires Two New Head Positions – Will we see any changes?

Being that the Blackberry was my first smartphone, I have been keeping my eyes on their status as am I am rooting for them to make it.  Blackberry was once the biggest player in the smartphone world, even being the first to come up with the idea of on-the-go emailing.  They have recently experienced a total downward plunge as Apple and Android devices seemingly took over the market.  Nowadays, people don’t even ask what kind of phone someone has.  Rather, the question is usually whether they have an Android or iPhone; if one answers “blackberry”, I am sure they receive a questioning look, if not outright asked why they’re still sporting one of those dinosaurs. 

So here is the big question we all have for Blackberry, are they going to make it back out of the woodwork, or are they simply going to disappear into extinction completely?  Some big moves Blackberry has made of late in hopes of changing their direction is by hiring John Chen as their new CEO.  John Chen has a reputation of being a strong turnaround specialist, most notably from his experience at Sybase.  The newest update to the companies changes is Chen bringing two trusted and successful former colleagues on board.  The first, James Mackey, is to be the Executive Vice President for Corporate Development and Strategic Planning.  Mark Wilson will be taking the position of Senior Vice President of Marketing. 

With these two new players in place, I wonder if we will be seeing any drastic changes.  The target is likely to make product and marketing changes so as to be able to make their products competitive in the Apple/Android world.