BlackBerry hires former HTC exec Ron Louks to run devices division

BlackBerry hires former HTC exec Ron Louks to head devices division
Explore This Story
Has hired former HTC Corp. and Sony Ericsson executive Ron Louks to run its devices business, tasking him with reigniting demand for the company’s smartphones after years of market-share losses.
Louks will serve as president of devices and emerging solutions and report directly to Chief Executive Officer John Chen, the Waterloo, Ontario-based company said Monday in a statement. Louks most recently served as CEO of the OpenNMS Group, following stints as chief strategy officer of HTC America Inc. and chief technology officer of Sony Ericsson.
Chen, a former Sybase Inc. and SAP AG executive who took the reins at BlackBerry in November, has been shaking up management in a bid to turn around the struggling smartphone maker. In December, Chen appointed former SAP executives as BlackBerry’s new heads of enterprise services, corporate strategy and marketing.
“Ron will focus on BlackBerry’s long-term product road map, including hardware, software and design, as well as the company’s joint development efforts,” Chen said in Monday’s statement.