Smartphones' Share of New Handsets Sales in U.S. Will Double by 2014

A dramatic shake-up in the U.S. market for new handset sales will ensue as smartphones grow to comprise roughly 60 percent of new handsets sold in the U.S. by 2014, according to the latest forecast data from Pyramid Research (ww.pyr.com), the telecom research arm of the Light Reading Communications Network (www.lightreading.com).

Pyramid Research's recently released Mobile Handset Forecasts (http://www.pyr.com/mhfcst.htm?sc=PR111209_FCMBHN) find that smartphones will represent 31 percent of new handsets sold in the U.S. in 2009, more than double from 15 percent two years prior, writes Dan Locke, Senior Analyst at Pyramid in Why BlackBerry Will Be No. 1 by 2014. "Today, BlackBerry has nearly 50 percent of the U.S. smartphone market, but when smartphones' share of new handsets sales double in 2014, we expect Apple's exclusive relationship with AT&T to have ceased, which could potentially make the iPhone available to an additional 200 million U.S. wireless customers," Locke writes. "However, even if competitors, such as Motorola, LG, Samsung, and Nokia, are able to improve their positioning in this growing segment, we expect RIM to remain at the forefront of the U.S. market."

Read the full Pyramid Point "Why BlackBerry Will Be No. 1 by 2014 (http://www.pyramidresearch.com/points/item/091109.htm?sc=PR111209_FCMBHN)."

Our Mobile Handset Forecast products provide a complete picture of handset sell-through in the 46 markets worldwide, including U.S. and Canada. It includes five years of historical data and five years of market projections for metrics such as total handset sales, handset sales by network technology, new handset sales (by technology, by technology generation, by feature set), smartphone handset sales, vendor market share, and handset ASP. Download a forecast template here (http://www.pyramidresearch.com/downloads.htm?id=2&sc=PR111209_FCMBHN).

Based on rigorous and time-tested research methodology and data modeling, Pyramid's Forecast Services stand as the communications industry's most reliable and robust forecasting tools. Clients have access to 1,200-plus key market indicators updated quarterly covering the mobile, fixed, and convergence sectors for nearly 100 countries, including detailed operating metrics for more than 400 operators worldwide.

Written by Pyramid analysts, Pyramid Points are complimentary online notes that provide insight into market, business, and regulatory developments in the global telecoms industry, based on key findings from Pyramid's renowned forecast services. View all Pyramid Points here (http://www.pyr.com/points.htm).

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About Pyramid Research

Pyramid Research (www.pyr.com) offers practical solutions to the complex demands our clients face in the telecommunications, media and technology industries. Our analysis is uniquely positioned at the intersection of emerging markets, emerging technologies and emerging business models, powered by the bottom-up methodology of our market forecasts for over 100 countries -- a distinction that has remained unmatched for more than 25 years. As the telecom research arm of the Light Reading Communications Network, Pyramid Research works with Heavy Reading, providing the communications industry's most comprehensive market data, trusted research and insightful technology analysis.

About Light Reading

Founded in 2000, Light Reading (www.lightreading.com) is the leading online media, research, and focused event company serving the $3 trillion worldwide communications market. Lightreading.com is the ultimate source for technology and financial analysis of the communications industry, leading the media sector in terms of traffic, content, and reputation. Light Reading's research arms, Heavy Reading and Pyramid Research, provide the most comprehensive communications research, market data, and technology analysis in close to 100 markets around the world. Light Reading produces nearly 20 targeted communications events including TelcoTV, Ethernet Expo New York and Ethernet Expo London, The Tower Summit @ CTIA, and Optical Expo, as well as focused one-day events tailored for cable, mobile, and wireline executives. Light Reading was acquired by United Business Media in August 2005 and operates as a unit of TechWeb.

About TechWeb

TechWeb (http://techweb.com/aboutus), the global leader in business technology media, is an innovative business focused on serving the needs of technology decision-makers and marketers worldwide. TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed media brands in the business technology market. Today, more than 13.3 million* business technology professionals actively engage in our communities created around our global face-to-face events, Interop, Web 2.0, Black Hat, and VoiceCon; online resources such as the TechWeb Network, Light Reading, Intelligent Enterprise, InformationWeek.com, bMighty.com, and The Financial Technology Network; and the market leading, award-winning InformationWeek, TechNet Magazine, MSDN Magazine, and Wall Street & Technology magazines. TechWeb also provides end-to-end services including next-generation performance marketing, integrated media, research, and analyst services. TechWeb is a division of United Business Media, a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $2.5 billion.

*13.3 million business decision-makers: based on number of monthly connections

About United Business Media Limited

UBM (UBM.L) focuses on two principal activities: worldwide information distribution, targeting and monitoring; and, the development and monetization of B2B communities and markets. UBM's businesses inform markets and serve professional commercial communities -- from doctors to game developers, from journalists to jewelry traders, from farmers to pharmacists -- with integrated events, online, print and business information products. Our 6,500 staff in more than 30 countries are organized into specialist teams that serve these communities, bringing buyers and sellers together, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently. For more information, go to http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com/.

Contact: Jennifer Baker, Pyramid Research, +1-617-871-1910, jbaker@pyr.com

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SOURCE: Pyramid Research

CONTACT: Jennifer Baker of Pyramid Research, +1-617-871-1910,
jbaker@pyr.com

Web Site: http://www.pyr.com/