BlackBerry exploring strategic alternatives including possible sale

BlackBerry, the developer of the BlackBerry brand of smartphones and tablets, announced on Monday (local time) that its board of directors has formed a special committee to explore strategic alternatives to enhance value and increase scale in order to accelerate BlackBerry 10 deployment.

These alternatives could include, among others, possible joint ventures, strategic partnerships or alliances, a sale of the company or other possible transactions, the Canadian company said in a statement.

The announcement follows weak sales. One-time market leader BlackBerry continued its plunge, grabbing only 2.9 percent in the global mobile phone market, according to a report.

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com