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

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- 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).

For more information about Pyramid Research's products and services, please
visit www.pyr.com or contact us at info@pyr.com.

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

SOURCE Pyramid Research

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