RIM changes name, officially rebrands company as 'BlackBerry'

A RIM employee holds a BlackBerry device in Berlin. RIM is looking to revitalize the BlackBerry brand with the BB10. (dapd / Berthold Stadler)

Research in Motion is changing its name and brand and will now officially be known simply as BlackBerry, CEO Thorsten Heins said Wednesday.

Heins made the announcement in New York Friday in the lead up to the much anticipated unveiling of the new BlackBerry 10 operating system and smartphones in New York.

"From this point forward RIM becomes BlackBerry," Heins said. "It is one brand, it is one promise. Our customers use BlackBerry, our employees work for BlackBerry and our shareholders are owners of BlackBerry. From today on, we are BlackBerry everywhere in the world."

Heins said the Waterloo, Ont.-based company has reinvented not just the BlackBerry device and operating system, but the entire company, and the new branding reflects the new direction.

After establishing itself as a pioneer in the smartphone industry, the company has struggled in recent years, losing market share to iPhone and Android.

Some analysts believe the company's future hinges directly on the success or failure of the new BlackBerry 10.