BlackBerry named two wireless industry veterans to an expanded board of
directors on Thursday, seeking to allay some investor concern around the
level of industry experience it has on its board.
The smartphone
maker has struggled in the last three years, bleeding market share to
nimbler rivals with faster and snazzier devices.
Shareholders
reelected its board nominees at the last annual meeting in Waterloo,
Ontario in July. But some investors said they disapproved of the board's
performance and the percentage of withheld votes for its long-time
directors jumped sharply.
BlackBerry said its new board members
are Richard Lynch, a former long-serving executive at U.S. wireless
carrier Verizon Communications, and Bert Nordberg, a former chair of
Sony Mobile and one-time president and CEO of Sony Ericsson.
BlackBerry,
which changed its name last week from Research In Motion, is attempting
to win back investors and consumers with a revamped line of smartphones
powered by its new BlackBerry 10 operating system. It said the two new
nominees will add "talent and industry knowledge" to its board.
BlackBerry's board will now consist of 12 members, of which 10 are independent members.
Shares
of BlackBerry rose on Thursday for a fourth straight day on reports of
strong sales for the new Z10 touch-screen device in its early
introduction to Canada and Britain.
The company said Canadian
launch-day sales were the best ever for a new BlackBerry. It said the
first week of sales in Britain were nearly three times better than its
last best performance there.
Wells Fargo Securities analyst
Maynard Um assumed coverage of BlackBerry on Thursday and boosted his
firm's rating on the company to "outperform," from "market perform."
BlackBerry shares rose 2.7 percent to $16.48 on the Nasdaq by early afternoon on Thursday.
The
shares are up more than 25 percent from Friday's close of $13.03 on the
Nasdaq, but are still below the 2013 high $18.32, reached soon before
the Z10's January 30 launch.
BlackBerry shares fell last week on
disappointment that the new devices will not hit the crucial U.S. market
until next month. Despite the recent rally, the company's share price
remains some 90 percent below its peak in 2008, when BlackBerry devices
dominated a nascent smartphone market.
Japan's Nikkei in an
unsourced report on Thursday said that BlackBerry would stop offering
its smartphones in Japan, due to poor sales. BlackBerry was not
immediately reachable for comment on the report.
© Thomson Reuters 2013
BlackBerry 10 Launch: In pictures