Craige Fleischer, regional director for Southern Africa at Research In Motion (RIM), has officially jumped ship to Samsung Electronics as of 1 October.
Fleischer follows closely in the footsteps of RIM's former regional director, Deon Liebenberg, who became MD of Samsung Electronics in SA in July. Fleischer had been with RIM since December 2008.
According to Samsung, Fleischer will join the company's regional headquarters in a business development role within office automation and consumer electronics for Africa.
“Craige has until recently been with Research In Motion, and seeks to broaden his horizons in respect of opportunities in Africa for the above product categories,” says COO of Samsung Electronics Africa George Ferreira.
Fleischer will report to president and CEO of Samsung Africa, KK Park. “We wish him every success in joining the Samsung family,” says Ferreira.
RIM has issued a statement, saying: “Craige Fleischer is no longer employed at RIM and we appreciate his past contributions to the business.”
While RIM has not stated who would take over Fleischer's position, the company says: “Southern Africa is an important and strategic market for RIM. BlackBerry continues to be number one in the market, and we are pleased to have an extremely talented management team in place that remains focused on continuing the growth of BlackBerry products and services in the region.”
High-profile exits
Last week, it was reported that Tyler Lessard, RIM's senior vice-president for global alliances and developer relations, was leaving the company. Reuters also reported that RIM's senior VP for platform marketing and alliances left the company two months ago.
Despite RIM's declining market share in mature markets, BlackBerry remains the most widely used smartphone brand in emerging markets such as Southern Africa.
World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck says BlackBerry is expected to remain the dominant smartphone brand into the next year with Samsung giving it “a run for their money and HTC's phones occupying a niche for high-end touch-screen users who don't want to buy into the iPhone world”.
Goldstuck adds that Android will rise fast in the South African market and could potentially overtake BlackBerry in the next two years.
* Watch a recent video interview with Fleischer.
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