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Red Bend Software Announces Third Quarter Achievements; Company’s Mobile Software Reaches 45 Million Consumers Worldwide

by Staff Writer | posted on 12 October 2006

Commercial Success in Firmware Over-The-Air (FOTA) Market and Continued Technology Leadership in Mobile Software Management Position Company for Continued Growth in Q4 and Beyond

London, UK, October 12, 2006 – Red Bend Software, the leading provider of mobile software management solutions, today announced that its market-leading firmware over-the-air (FOTA) client software for mobile phones is now embedded in 45 million handsets worldwide. As of third quarter 2006, Red Bend’s vCurrent® Mobile software is deployed in 91 countries on 41 handset models from five of the world’s largest handset manufacturers, including BenQ Mobile, LG Electronics, Sharp, and Sony Ericsson. In addition, two more manufacturers, including NEC, have signed licence agreements and will be bringing Red Bend FOTA-enabled phones to market within the next year. These customer wins give Red Bend access to 75 percent of the worldwide handset market.

The rapid adoption of Red Bend’s software, proven in global deployments by both handset manufacturers and mobile operators, demonstrates the commercial success of FOTA technology as an important and valuable component of delivering mobile services today and in the future. Using Red Bend’s vCurrent Mobile, manufacturers and operators are able to deliver new features and services directly to mobile phones that improve consumers’ experience and satisfaction.

This commercial success, combined with other recent corporate and technology milestones, underscores Red Bend’s FOTA leadership and global market momentum. Of particular note:

Today 45 million handsets worldwide are equipped with Red Bend’s vCurrent Mobile software – a 62 percent increase over second quarter 2006, when there were nearly 28 million. These shipments broadly cover wireless network standards (GSM, CDMA, and WCDMA) and geographies (Americas, Europe, and Asia Pacific), cementing Red Bend’s leadership position globally.

With this rapid rate of adoption, Red Bend is forecasting that its vCurrent Mobile software will be embedded in between 70 and 100 million handsets by the end of 2006, as manufacturers continue to deploy Red Bend’s software on new mass-market phones.

Before the advent of FOTA, handset manufacturers and mobile operators had little ability to effectively update a phone’s software during its typical 18- to 24-month life span. In the event that a software update was needed, consumers were often forced to bring their phones back to the retail store to obtain a repair. FOTA allows manufactures and operators to update the entire firmware or software components of phones already in users’ hands by delivering updates via the wireless network. This eliminates the need for consumers to visit a retail store or service facility, as well as makes the process more convenient for users and more cost-effective for suppliers.

“FOTA has achieved commercial success because it enables both manufacturers and operators to meet a critical business need – keeping consumers happy. That is the reason FOTA is well on its way to becoming a mainstream mobile service that is standard on every phone,” said Yoram Salinger, president and CEO of Red Bend Software. “While Red Bend’s software today is used to improve customer satisfaction and service, tomorrow it will be used to open new revenue streams for operators, manufacturers and application developers. We see this propelling Red Bend’s growth in Q4 and beyond.”

Product Innovation Fuels Rapid Adoption In the third quarter, Red Bend continued its record of product innovation with shipment of version 4.0 of its vCurrent Mobile software management suite. Red Bend’s vCurrent Mobile client software, which supports both smartphones and feature phones, is delivery agnostic and can interoperate with any standards-based mobile device management (MDM) server.

Building on its market-leading position in FOTA client software, Red Bend also continued to expand its mobile software management solutions with new investment in technology called Embedded Feature Delivery (EFD). This technology provides mobile operators, handset manufacturers and application developers with greater flexibility in customizing mobile handsets over-the-air to the personalised choices of consumers.

Highlights include:

Increased Performance and Platform Support – Version 4.0 of vCurrent Mobile expanded Red Bend’s already broad platform support to include Linux, as well as added improvements in performance and reliability with a new feature called Instant Failsafe, which reduces update time on average by 40 percent. This improves the user experience by minimizing the amount of time that the phone is offline while updating, and ensures complete reliability of the update process.

Rapid Market Penetration – With proven technology and deployment success, Red Bend’s customers have licensed vCurrent Mobile onto 41 handset models – a 64 percent increase over second quarter 2006, when there were 25 models.

Growing Industry Support – Red Bend showed growing industry support for EFD by forming non-exclusive joint marketing and technology partnerships with Opera Software ASA, a world leader in Web browser technologies, and with TAT (The Astonishing Tribe), a leader in mobile phone user interface technology.

Corporate Momentum Supports Operational Expansion

The rapid adoption of Red Bend’s FOTA software, new customer wins, growing industry partnerships, and a broadened product portfolio led Red Bend to invest in expanding its operations in third quarter.

Highlights include: · Key Customer Win – Red Bend concluded an agreement with NEC Corporation of Japan to install Red Bend’s vCurrent Mobile software on NEC’s mobile phones. · Expansion in Asia – The company further expanded global operations by opening an office in South Korea to support LG and other customer relationships in the region. The addition rounds out Red Bend’s Asia Pacific presence, which includes offices in Japan and China.

“With all the major handset manufacturers now selecting Red Bend as their FOTA client solution, and with access now to 75 percent of the worldwide handset market, we have a solid position from which to expand our leadership in mobile software management,” said Salinger. “The trusted relationships that we have with our customers and partners, combined with a foundation of innovative technology and world-class engineering, have established Red Bend as an important player in the mobile value chain.”

About Red Bend Software

Red Bend Software helps mobile phone manufacturers and network operators to accelerate the adoption of new services and features, respond rapidly to customer needs, and reduce support costs through mobile software management solutions. BenQ Mobile, LG Electronics, NEC, Sharp, Sony Ericsson, and other large handset manufacturers use Red Bend’s firmware over-the-air (FOTA) mobile client software to quickly and reliably deliver compact firmware updates to mobile phones already in the hands of consumers. Founded in 1999, Red Bend Software is a privately held, venture capital-financed company with offices in China, Israel, Japan, Korea, the U.K and the U.S. More information about Red Bend Software is available at www.redbend.com

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