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RIM has hired JP Morgan to “assist in reviewing RIM’s business and financial performance”:

To further enhance our commitment to successfully completing our transformation, after the release of our year-end financial results, we engaged J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and RBC Capital Markets to assist the Company and our Board of Directors in reviewing RIM’s business and financial performance. These advisors have been tasked to help us with the strategic review we referenced on our year-end financial results conference call and to evaluate the relative merits and feasibility of various financial strategies, including opportunities to leverage the BlackBerry platform through partnerships, licensing opportunities and strategic business model alternatives.

This is relatively straight forward. RIM is reporting that the company will continue to lose money through their transitional period for the next few quarters, and RIM has hired JP Morgan and RBC to advise them on the best (or what available) road to take. BGR reported that RIM was pushing for a sale of the entire company to Samsung earlier this year, but RIM wanted an insanely high number — around $10 billion — and Samsung has denied talks ever having place. RIM is currently trading at around $10 a share, making the company worth about half of what they originally wanted in a sale.

Bold emphasis ours, full press release follows.…

Research In Motion will reportedly lay off at least 2,000 workers as the company struggles to regain its footing in a smartphone market dominated by just two vendors. RIM added two new executives earlier this month, chief marketing officer Frank Boulben and chief operating officer Kristian Tear, but the Waterloo, Ontario-based smartphone maker is now preparing to make more drastic moves in an effort to cut costs, The Globe and Mail reported. The restructuring may begin in the next two weeks according to the report, and more than 10% of RIM’s global workforce of approximately 16,500 will be affected. RIM’s smartphone business has declined rapidly in the past few years as Apple and Samsung have risen to dominate the industry. In the first quarter this year, Apple is estimated to have accounted for 80% of global smartphone profits among major vendors while Samsung took in the remaining 20%. RIM plans to respond in the fourth quarter with the launch of its first BlackBerry 10-powered smartphone, code-named the BlackBerry London.

Research In Motion on Tuesday named two new executives as the shake-up atop its organization continues. Recently-appointed chief executive officer Thorsten Heins said during his first day on the job that finding a new marketing boss and making drastic changes to the company’s marketing strategy were top priorities for the struggling smartphone maker. While the company’s marketing efforts have yet to pay off — though it does seem to be trying new things, at least — a new chief marketing officer has now been named. Frank Boulben, former executive vice president of strategy, marketing and sales for LightSquared, has been appointed CMO effective immediately, and joining him is new chief operating officer, Kristian Tear, who comes from Sony Mobile where he was the company’s executive vice president. “Kristian and Frank bring extensive knowledge of the rapidly changing wireless global market and will help RIM as we sharpen our focus on delivering long-term value to our stakeholders,” RIM CEO Thorsten Heins said in a statement. “Most importantly, both Kristian and Frank possess a keen understanding of the emerging trends in mobile communications and computing.”

The majority of mobile subscribers in the United Stated now own a smartphone according to the latest numbers from Nielsen. The research firm found that 50.4% of all U.S. mobile subscribers owned smartphones in March, up from 47.8% in December 2011. Consumers purchasing new phones picked smartphones more often than featured phones, with Apple called the top manufacturer and Android as the top platform. During the first quarter of 2012, 48% of smartphone owners had an Android-powered device, while 32% of devices ran iOS and 11.6% were on the BlackBerry platform. The dated Windows Mobile OS owned a 4.1% share of the market, ahead of Windows Phone at 1.7%.

A number of unannounced devices currently being developed by Research In Motion have been revealed by the alpha software included on the developer preview phone the vendor distributed last week. BlackBerry watcher N4BB discovered a number of code-names referencing unannounced BlackBerry devices in RIM’s BlackBerry 10 alpha software, several of which are expected to run the Waterloo, Ontario-based vendor’s next-generation BlackBerry 10 operating system when they launch in the future. Among the devices referenced are the Colt, RIM’s developer phone that will not be made available to the public, and the London, which is expected to launch in October as the first BlackBerry 10 phone. Other devices referenced in RIM’s BlackBerry 10 alpha code are the Blackforest, thought to be a 10-inch PlayBook tablet, as well as the Nevada, Naples and Nashville, all thought to be upcoming BlackBerry 10 smartphones.

Despite its new CEO promising a renewed focus on marketing, Research In Motion hasn’t been known for effective campaigns of late. The company launched a sizable advertising blitz earlier this year that focused on its new BlackBerry Bold smartphones, but the commercials had no apparent impact on smartphone sales in key markets including the United States. Late last month, RIM and its Australian marketing agency Tongue began a campaign that takes a different approach to raising brand awareness, though it’s one we have seen numerous times in the past: bash Apple and its customers.

Research In Motion CEO Thorsten Heins at a press event on Wednesday confirmed that a 4G LTE PlayBook will launch by the end of this year. According to The Canadian Reviewer, the tablet will be equipped with an updated dual-core processor clocked at 1.5GHZ, will include NFC technology and look similar to the current BlackBerry PlayBook. BGR in January exclusively reported details about RIM’s plans to introduce a new PlayBook tablet around May or June that will be equipped with a 1.5GHz processor, built-in HSPA+ and NFC support. In March, a RIM tablet with HSPA+ and LTE radios passed through the FCC, confirming speculation regarding a 4G PlayBook.

During the annual Consumer Electronics Show in January 2009, a struggling smartphone company that had once helped shape the mobile industry unveiled its next-generation platform. It was gorgeous. The design was unique and appealing, the gesture-based controls were smart and intuitive, and the company’s new smartphone operating system offered a breath of fresh air in an industry dominated by just two major players, Apple and Google.

On August 18th, 2011, less than three years after this promising new platform was unveiled, it was effectively laid to rest.

As Research In Motion continues to explore any and all options that might help carry it through the next two quarters until it finally launches its first BlackBerry 10 smartphone and beyond, one option reportedly on the table is patent trolling. RIM recently hired law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP to explore a number of possible paths it might take in the near term and the long term as its struggles continue, and according to Techdirt, one of those options is to take a more aggressive stance with its patents. As the patent wars heat up in the mobile space, Microsoft seems to be the only major player pulling in substantial revenue from its recent publicized dealings involving aggressive patent plays. Even Apple, despite its numerous efforts, has yet to score any big wins of note. Whether or not RIM can manage to successfully weaponize its patent portfolio — if it is in fact exploring that option — remains to be seen, but the pressure is on as BlackBerry World 2012 kicks off with no new product announcements to be found following a brief preview of its next-generation smartphone platform.

I sat at my computer in amazement a little earlier. Most of me knew that RIM is too damaged and too slow to pivot, and just too out of touch with its customers to know it actually has a chance. But, there was this small part of me that was genuinely excited for BlackBerry World’s announcements. Then I saw Thorston Heins start off the company’s most crucial keynote ever with Salesforce and Cisco.

Research In Motion has its work cut out for it. Apple and Samsung went from dominating the smartphone industry to completely owning it in the first quarter this year, and RIM’s struggles continued as its BlackBerry 7 smartphone lineup really started showing its age. All eyes are on BlackBerry 10 as industry watchers try to determine whether or not RIM has a real shot at a comeback, and RIM has to be especially impressive at this year’s BlackBerry World conference since its first BlackBerry 10 smartphone likely won’t even launch until some time in October. RIM president and CEO Thorsten Heins will take the stage in just a few minutes when RIM’s BlackBerry World keynote kicks off at 9:00 a.m. EDT / 6:00 a.m. PDT, so hit the break to follow all the action as it unfolds and don’t forget to refresh the page for the latest updates.

Research In Motion’s annual BlackBerry World conference kicks off Tuesday morning and new president and chief executive officer Thorsten Heins will take the stage to greet the thousands of show goers in attendance. Heins’s company has a daunting mountain to climb as its struggles continue, and this year’s show may be RIM’s most important to date as it looks to attract enough interest from developers and users to tide it over until its next-generation smartphone platform launches. RIM’s first BlackBerry 10-powered smartphone likely won’t be released until some time in October, but developers will get their first taste of a smartphone running PlayBook OS, the basis for BlackBerry 10, when RIM hands out thousands of prototype smartphones at the BlackBerry Jam conference that will run alongside BlackBerry World in Orlando, Florida. Will RIM make enough of a splash to instill faith in developers, users and investors that it can successfully re-enter a market not just dominated by, but completely owned by Apple and Samsung?

Bookmark this link, which will go live shortly before the event begins this morning, and make sure to head there for our live coverage of RIM’s keynote! Coverage will begin just before 9:00 a.m. EDT / 6:00 a.m. PDT.

Reports of a staged protest outside an Apple Store emerged last week after a bus full of paid activists dressed in all black stood outside an Apple Store in Australia chanting “wake up.” Early reports suggested Samsung and marketing agency Tongue were behind the staged event, but after Samsung denied any involvement, a potential new culprit has arisen. Macworld’s Australian sister site did some digging and found code on Tongue’s Wake Up website that points not to Samsung, but instead to Research In Motion. The code in question, an account identifier within a DoubleClick URL, has been revealed as RIM’s ID for its Australian website. Macworld also notes that “Blunty,” the bystander who just so happened to capture the protest on camera, has worked with RIM in the past when he posted a three-part video review of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet ahead of its launch in Australia.

Research In Motion may be planning to unveil its debut next-generation smartphone this summer, with a launch to follow in in the fall. N4BB on Wednesday reported that RIM currently intends to take the wraps off its first BlackBerry 10-powered smartphone by mid-August, and it plans to launch the handset in early or mid-October. BGR exclusively published RIM’s 2012 product roadmap this past January, and at that time we said the first BlackBerry 10 smartphone, code-named “BlackBerry London,” was scheduled to launch in late September or early October. N4BB also claims a QWERTY-equipped BlackBerry 10 device is expected to launch in the first quarter next year, again in line with a report from this past January, though the site claims the device might not feature a slider form factor. RIM is not likely to discuss specifics with regards to BlackBerry 10 devices or launch timing during the BlackBerry World conference next week, but the smartphone maker may share new details surrounding its platform and BGR will be on hand to report all the news as it breaks.