BlackBerry shares plunge after announcement of Apple-IBM partnership

With Apple and IBM announcing a partnership on Tuesday under which IBM will create more business-centered apps for the iPhone and iPad, the shares of BlackBerry recorded a decline on late Tuesday.

The announcement of the Apple-IBM partnership comes at a time when BlackBerry is trying to regain its stronghold in terms of providing secure mobile communications to businesses and government agencies.

The Apple-IBM partnership is yet another indication of the fact that an increasing number of BlackBerry's rivals are now focusing on the highly portable - and mostly loyal - corporate market --- a move which can evidently put BlackBerry under pressure.

With regard to the impact of the Apple-IBM partnership on BlackBerry, William Blair analyst Anil Doradla said that the partnership will apparently be a "long-term negative" for BlackBerry.

Despite the that BlackBerry has said that the Apple-IBM partnership chiefly underscores "the ongoing need for secure end-to-end enterprise mobility solutions" similar to those which BlackBerry has been delivering for years, Doradla said in a recent note: "In the likely scenario of Apple/IBM doing well in servicing the needs of enterprise customers, we see little reason for enterprises to choose BlackBerry's platform over Apple's."