Germany gathers Blackberry R&D

The facility is scheduled to open in summer 2008 with 140 new employees and plans to for future growth up to 500 people. It will be based in the Uni-Tech-Center on the campus of Ruhr-Universität, Bochum.

The focus of research will be hardware and software development.

“At RIM we are committed to innovation and excellence and I am very pleased to announce our plans for a world-class R&D facility in Bochum,” said Mike Lazaridis, Founder, President and Co-CEO. “This new R&D facility will play a pivotal role in extending RIM's leadership in the smartphone market as we continue to focus on delivering best-in-class solutions to our customers.”

North Rhine-Westphalia’s Minister of Economics, Christa Thoben, said, “RIM’s decision underlines the quality of universities and scientific institutes in this region. The area is an innovation powerhouse with a global reputation, and we are delighted RIM has selected Bochum as the home of its new R&D facility.”

“The new R&D facility will support our growth and help RIM continue to provide our carrier partners and customers with the very best products,” said Thorsten Heins, Senior Vice President, Handheld Business, at RIM, adding that the company will be working in close co-operation with the surrounding universities and institutes in the North Rhine-Westphalia region.