Victoria, BC, Canada

Launching in the UK with Orange on July 10, 2009, the new TG01 will be the world’s first smartphone to be using the new Quantum processor with the dizzying processing speed of 1GHz. Will it succeed in the market? eBay is a common venue for early technology developers, so analysts like Brian Russo from CIBC World Markets use it to predict global consumer trends. Our own experience with eBay data leads us to believe that the level of success in the overall market will be able to be determined by the levels of early online auction activity.

So far, there has been trading activity on the eBay Germany platform for Toshiba TG01 items and accessories. Over half of the shipments of these items have been within Germany itself. None so far have been to the UK or the United States. Have their smartphone markets become saturated while Germany’s still has room for growth?

At this stage it is still too early to tell. In the US leg of the smartphone race we’ve seen Apple’s iPhone leading in sales revenues but RIM maintaining the highest volumes in the USA market- check out our iphone index at http://www.terapeak.com/widgets/indexes/iphone/#graph.

Stay tuned to this blog for future updates on the states of ecommerce sales for the TG01 and its competitors in the smart phone market. For further inquiries or information email us at info@researchadvanced.com.

As the US savings rate increases to an all time high since 1997, it seems that eBay is increasingly becoming a safe haven for various products including Dell technology.

For the fourth quarter, Dell has reported a profit of $351 million USD. This is a 48% decrease from their Q3 2008 profit of $727 million USD. Despite this offline decline in demand for Dell products and services, there has been a bright spot in eBay where it’s traded laptops and desktops have had a combined increase in net revenue and volume.

When compared to the third quarter of 2008, Dell experienced a 6% increase in revenue and a 13% increase in volume traded in eBay USA for combined laptops and desktops alone. Dell’s eBay revenue rose 9.4% of the total global net revenue for this quarter.

It would also appear that in 2008 eBay users have indicated an increasing preference for refurbished Dell items over new and used ones. In a Q4 08/07 comparison there is a 1.82% reduction in revenue and an 18% increase in volume on eBay for Dell laptops and computers. For refurbished Dell laptops and desktops, the volume rose dramatically by 36% and the revenue increased 18% to $14.1 million USD from $11.9 million USD.

Sometimes described as a venue for early technology adopters, it will be interesting to see how many more chose alternative venues such as eBay as the American consumption rate slows.

Fred Speckeen, CEO of AERS, anticipates great innovation and insight from the partnership with Calexus. “This is very exciting,” he says. “What our teams are working towards are truly next generation market and consumer insights. Calexus technology discovers facts and relationships hidden in the literally billions of e-commerce transactions Advanced collects from across 30 product categories in each of six countries – USA, UK, Germany, France, Australia and Canada. For example, Calexus is working with AERS to investigate complex relationships between eBay auction prices and the general demand for a manufacturer’s products as reported in quarterly results.”

Doug Newell, Calexus Solutions LLC’s Managing Director, remarks, “We are delighted to be working with AERS. Together, by data-mining and text-mining terabytes of e-commerce transaction data, we will create a new genre of business information – one that includes some of the earliest indicators of changes in consumer purchasing patterns, price sensitivities and geographic pockets of demand. AERS’s unique eBay relationship and our powerful data mining technologies make a perfect match. This affiliation will unlock a whole spectrum of business opportunities.”

About AERS:

AERS specializes in delivering e-commerce-based analytics and insight to support the investment, product management, marketing, and advertising decisions of its thousands of clients. AERS does this based on its core competencies in storing and mining large e-commerce datasets.

AERS is comprised of two main divisions: Terapeak supplies auction analysis to eBay sellers and buyers through an on-line web interface, while Advanced delivers data and custom research to the business sector. The company was founded in 2004.

About Calexus:

Calexus improves business decision quality by quickly and efficiently discovering new facts and relationships. Calexus uses machine learning in the form of genetic algorithms to dynamically search masses of structured and unstructured data. The results are superior decisions and higher profitability for Calexus clients.

Calexus was founded by Doug Newell, a five-time serial entrepreneur and a recognized expert and innovator in the world of advanced analytics.

Contact information:

Fred Speckeen, President and CEO
Advanced E-commerce Research Solutions
www.AERS.ca
1-250-483-3252 (direct)

Calexus Solutions LLC
www.calexussolutions.com
1-603-432-6673

On March 5th, New Media BC will present AERS CEO Fred Speckeen as a keynote speaker at an afternoon workshop designed to provide BC entrepreneurs with the information they need to expand to the USA.

According to Speckeen, savvy entrepreneurs will understand the factors driving a continued rapid uptake of existing and new E-commerce and media products and services. For example:

• At Q3 2008 the E-commerce portion of USA retail grew to a year over year rate of 5.7%, while USA retail had only grown .3%
• 11% of online adults and 19% of 18-24 year-olds have used Twitter or a similar service
• 35% of adult Internet users have a profile on an online social networking site
• 19% of all internet users have downloaded a podcast
• 80% of young adults and >50% of all adult online users play video games

Speckeen has almost two decades experience at VP and CEO level gained internationally across the technology, media and semiconductor fields in hands-on roles spanning product management, sales, marketing and technology licensing. He has established numerous successful partnerships with USA-based firms.

Event Details

Date:       March 5, 2009

Time:       12:00 pm

Location:  Centre for Digital Media, 577 Great Northern Way Vancouver, BC V5T 1E1

Organized By  Dawn Wattie Law Corporation & New Media BC Association

Price:        $70 ($45 Member Price)

Registration Deadline:  March 3, 2009

For more information:  http://www.newmediabc.com/events.php?event=152

“The new name reflects the value proposition of what we offer our clients – we provide our customers with competitive intelligence that’s based on real-time e-commerce data.” says Fred Speckeen, Advanced President and CEO. “This goes beyond simply counting the number of a certain company’s mobile phones sold on a given day to illuminating the fact that that consumers are ready to pay 20% more for an unlocked version of that company’s phone than they will for a locked one, and which consumer demographic is most likely to buy, and in what regions of a country you’ll find the most buyers, and so-on. We take in data on millions of transactions daily from the world’s largest e-commerce platform, process it using proprietary techniques, host it, mine it, and provide e-commerce analytics that span over 30 consumer product categories and that illuminate the behaviour of literally millions of consumers in the USA, UK, Germany, France, Australia and Canada.”

“In further sharpening of our focus, AERS is also retiring the Dataunison brand. Now, all of our corporate-focused e-commerce analytics services will be found directly under the ‘Advanced’ umbrella. This leaves the company with a simplified brand structure and even clearer market message (www.researchadvanced.com). Our well-established and rapidly growing Terapeak brand (www.terapeak.com) will continue to be our eBay seller-facing service. ”

Along with the new name, Advanced sports a new logo and a new website www.researchadvanced.com. DataUnison.com links will continue to live on the researchadvanced.com website and will redirect seamlessly.

About Advanced E-Commerce Research Systems Inc.
Advanced is a fast growing e-commerce analytics company. Privately held, the company is headquartered in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The company delivers e-commerce data and analytics based on the world’s largest e-commerce platform, eBay. Today, Advanced is eBay’s only market data reseller and has established itself as the pre-eminent provider of the most up-to-date, thorough, and relevant e-commerce marketplace reporting available. Currently, Advanced websites receive over 1,000,000 page views per month. For more information: www.researchadvanced.com

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For further information,
Fred Speckeen, CEO
Phone: 250.483.3267
Fax: 250.483.3271
Email: fred [a] aers.ca

The latest version of Terapeak 5.0 is a subscription-based market research toolset that provides sellers with a complete understanding of opportunities on the eBay platform. These tools include: item pricing information (average pricing, sell-through rates, and more); the best keywords and categories to use; how to determine when your customer will be shopping; and two years’ worth of category trends to track individual item seasonality. New Terapeak tools include information on what shoppers are searching for on the eBay platform and what products and titles are experiencing the most sales activity. Even better, Terapeak 5.0 has wrapped the powerful functionality in an easy-to-use interface that is welcoming to new users and existing subscribers.

AERS’ consumer is anyone who sells on eBay, the world’s largest and fastest growing ecommerce platform. eBay saw more than 56 billion transactions in 2007. Terapeak 5.0 is available for visitor demonstrations at: http://www.terapeak.com.

Fred Speckeen, AERS President and Chief Executive Officer says, “More people than ever are selling both new and used items on eBay. Terapeak 5.0 helps you maximize your profits in a market that has more than five million new listings each day. It is a fun, reliable and easy-to-use solution with innovative features that take the guesswork out of your eBay experience.”

Chief Technology Officer, Andrew Sukow, takes it further, explaining, “This advanced version is the result of intense design innovation to create the industry’s leading market research tool for use with eBay. Terapeak 5.0 offers vastly superior web interface products with newly enhanced features and functionality designed to create a fresh, seamless and fun user experience, regardless of whether you’re an eBay PowerSeller or an eBay novice.”

Terapeak 5.0 will also be showcased at the eBay Live! 2008 Community Conference June 19 – 21 in Chicago, Illinios.

VICTORIA – February 26, 2007    Terapeak, a member of the eBay Developers Program and an eBay Certified Solution Provider, today announced the expansion of its eBay research product line to include sales data from eBay sites in the U.K., Australia, Canada, Germany and France. Terapeak’s is the first eBay research tool to offer data on eBay sales outside of the U.S.

Terapeak also announced several enhancements to its current research tool, including:

• Category Heat Map: Shows eBay sellers which categories are hottest on eBay
• Faster search speeds for dial-up connections and real time progress bar for Average Selling Price (ASP) and number of listings found
• Top Sellers by Category and detailed Seller Research: eBay sellers can now research their competition by viewing the top sellers in any category and by viewing any seller’s sales history to learn techniques that may help them improve their eBay businesses
• Time zone and currency preferences
• Educational videos: Over the shoulder learning experiences to help guide sellers through their eBay research

The above new features are included in all Terapeak Research Advantage packages, including the recently launched Research Advantage for eBay Motors Parts and Accessories. In addition to these new features, the company has made available up to two years of sales trend data viewable by category. eBay sellers can use this data to view reports indicating the best times to sell, the best listing start prices, optimal listing features and the keywords that drive the most profits, enabling them to maximize sales and expand their eBay businesses.

“Research for eBay’s international markets allows eBay sellers and businesses to confidently expand into new untapped markets with a clear knowledge of how products sell in those markets,” says Terapeak CEO Anthony Sukow. “We’re very excited about being able to offer this data and increase our global presence online.”

As a member of the eBay Developers Program, Terapeak was able to work closely with eBay to create a tool that is specifically geared towards the needs of eBay sellers. Terapeak licenses eBay Market Data, which provides access to rich historical data about what is bought and sold on eBay. Terapeak analyzes this raw data and returns customizable reports to sellers offering them the most relevant information for their eBay businesses.

Terapeak Marketplace Research has developed the most advanced research tool for analyzing eBay consumer transaction data. With over 100 million items on the site at any given time, eBay is the most reliable consumer activity index in the world. To learn more please visit www.terapeak.com or email support@terapeak.com.

CONTACT: Denise Hogue
Terapeak Marketing
w. 250.483.3273
www.terapeak.com
dhogue@terapeak.com