It's no secret that BlackBerry (BB 1.09%) has been having a rough couple of years. And if a recent report from market research firm IDC is any indication, the lumps may well keep coming for the ailing Canadian tech giant. By 2018, the report indicates, the company's share of the global smartphone market could fall as low as 0.3%.

Of course, BlackBerry insiders and investors alike are accustomed to this brand of dire forecasting. But here's something they might not have considered in a while: whether BlackBerry's best days might actually still be ahead of it.

During a recent presentation at a San Francisco technology conference, CEO John Chen outlined a bold new initiative that could get his dwindling business back on the growth track. Codenamed "Project Ion,, the plan is significant not only in that it represents BlackBerry's entrance into the much-hyped "Internet of Things" space, but also, and perhaps more importantly, because it could signal a strategic shift away from the consumer handset space altogether.

Watch the following video as Motley Fool tech analyst Lyons George dives into BlackBerry's ambitious new roadmap -- and considers what it means to investors on the hunt for a turnaround.