After months of speculation over what the launch of BB10 will mean for BlackBerrys future, the talk has settled into a holding pattern, as we wait to see how the market will response to BlackBerrys latest devices. But it seems that one influential figure has already made up his mind – former CEO Jim Balsillie.

According to a SEC regulatory filing, Balsillie sold his stake in the Canadian manufacturer – hed previously owned a 5.1 per cent stake in the company, some 26.8m shares.

Balsillie founded RIM – as it was named until it rebranded to BlackBerry last month – back in 1984, and was co-CEO with fellow founder Mike Lazaridis until he stepped down in January 2012, and was replaced by Thorsten Heins.

Its easy to read the news as a sign that Balsillie had some insider knowledge about how the initial BB10 launches were going, but while the filing has only just come to light, the sale was actually made by the end of last year.

Nevertheless, its hardly an encouraging sign for a company thats had a tough couple of years, and was just starting to attract more positive headlines with the launch of BB10, its latest hope at staging a comeback.