Research In Motion is introducing a software tool giving corporate customers the option of linking employees' personal iPhones to the BlackBerry network without compromising security.
The move, announced on Tuesday, acknowledges the deep inroads made by Apple and Google's Android devices in the global smartphone market, especially among younger users.
It is also a first, tentative step by RIM to offer its network services independently of BlackBerry devices, which have been losing ground to sleeker rivals.
Success with the strategy would likely help RIM defend its turf as the primary handler of mobile devices in the workplace.
"It's not an admission of guilt - it's a necessary evil," Suquehanna analyst Jeff Fidacaro said.
RIM's often-volatile stock jumped more than 8 percent to $17.82 in morning trade on the Nasdaq.
Even so, the shares are still down more than 70 percent this year following a string of delayed or botched product launches and disappointing quarterly results.
RIM's BlackBerry was for years the preferred device for businesses and government agencies, who treasured its encrypted data and distributed the device to millions of workers needing secure, round-the-clock email access.
But many workers now prefer using their own Apple and Android-powered devices to access corporate emails, raising security questions for corporations that RIM hopes to address with the new software.
"While a positive step, the larger challenges remain RIM's need to narrow competitive gaps in its handsets," RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky wrote in a note to clients, pointing out RIM's software deficiencies and limited content and applications available on its devices.
RIM's slice of the lucrative U.S. smartphone market fell to 9 percent in the third quarter, down from 24 percent a year earlier, according to research firm Canalys. Globally, the report placed RIM in fifth place, with 10 percent market share, compared with 15 percent a year earlier.
