Beware the Temptation of Thorsten Heins

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Research in Motion(RIMM) is due to report their fourth quarter after the close of business on Thursday and few are expecting invigorating results. Quite the opposite. Hopped-up competition from Apple(AAPL) and a series of lamebrain moves have conspired against the once mighty company.

But it might be worse than expected: the result of a single factor the media is completely ignoring.

Simply put, CEO Thorsten Heins has just completed his first full quarter in charge. Traditionally, CEO's have taken that opportunity to release every last morsel of bad news possible, blaming it on the old guard. The pressure to fob troubles off on predecessors, granting a cleaner slate, might be even greater in Heins' case. His tenure started on laughable footing when he surveyed RIMM's dire fortunes and came out with a statement that fell into instant infamy:

"I don't think that there is a drastic change needed."

But Barron's ran a curtain opener for the earnings report, touching upon a myriad of factors, but making no mention of Heins' standing as a rookie.