Veteran of the smartphone set, BlackBerry has been having difficulties competing with the latest handheld devices such as iPhones and Androids. Disappointment mounted as the much-anticipated introduction of their latest phones failed to produce the crucial turn around in sales which had been hoped for.

Now the company is faced with some tough decisions as to the best way to proceed from here. BlackBerry’s board of directors formed a special committee to examine “strategic alternatives” to hopefully boost the company’s value and improve the rate at which the new BlackBerry 10 platform is adopted.

Under consideration by the company now are the possibilities of joint ventures, partnerships or other changes. The US-traded stock of the Canadian based company rose 10.5 percent on Monday, when the announcement was made, to a price of $10.78.

BlackBerry announced the release of its new operating system in January, hoping to become more competitive in the highly competitive smartphone market. Market share continued to lag, however, and the company is now in fourth place in global smartphone sales with 2.9 percent of the market.

Even with price reductions, says Mike Walkley, an analyst with Canaccord Genuity, sales for BlackBerry are in decline.

“Now they have to go to the next step of what’s best for the company and shareholders to survive long term because it doesn’t look promising on BlackBerry 10 sales,” Walkley said.