Did Apple and IBM just kill BlackBerry?

  BlackBerry crumbled by Apple and IBM NEW YORK (CNNMoney) BlackBerry has had a heck of a year.

The stock is up nearly 40% in 2014 as investors embrace the turnaround strategy from new CEO John Chen.

Now Chen may face his biggest challenge yet: A direct assault from two tech titans.

Apple (AAPL, Tech30) and IBM (IBM, Tech30) announced a partnership that will let Big Blue offer souped-up iPhones and IPads to corporate customers.

Shares of BlackBerry (BBRY, Tech30) plunged nearly 10% Wednesday on the news.

Although BlackBerry is losing the consumer smarpthone battle to Apple, companies like Samsung that sell phones running on Google's (GOOG) Android and even Microsoft, it has remained popular in the IT departments of many corporations and government agencies.

The BlackBerry is still the mobile device of choice for many big businesses, partly due to security reasons. But that too is changing as more companies allow their workers to connect personal devices to corporate networks.

If BlackBerry loses even more share of the small device business, then the company's turnaround may come to a screeching halt.

To Chen's credit, he still has time to get BlackBerry back on track. The company reported an increase in its cash position in its most recent quarter.

Chen is also steering BlackBerry into the connected home and auto markets with its QNX software. And then there's the recent deal that will let BlackBerry 10.3 customers access Android apps on Amazon's (AMZN, Tech30) app store later this fall.

But the big dive in BlackBerry's stock price Wednesday shows just how tenuous the company's situation is. Investors are still nervous ... and with good reason.

IBM and Apple are significant competitors individually. As a team, they are an even more formidable threat. And Wall Street clearly approves of the pairing. Shares of Apple rose more than 1% to a new 52-week high while IBM popped more than 2%.

Perhaps it's time nickname for the two like "Wintel" is for! Microsoft's Windows and Intel. AppBlue? Or maybe iBM?

Whatever you want to call it, it's hefty competition.