Victoria, BC, Canada

January sales figures released by Avian Research revealed a decline in iPhone sales while Blackberry experienced an increase. Online trends in eBay could eventually reflect this offline trend with recent figures released from Terapeak on smart phone sales. Despite being currently outnumber by iPhones in the ecommerce market, the Blackberry is demonstrating astonishing growth that could turn the tables on its major competitors.

The percentage change of Blackberries over iPhone sales have been 75% since February 17th where the inflection point occurred. The newest Blackberry release of the Curve 8900 occurred right around that time. Coupled with the recent opening of the Blackberry application, the smart phone consumer has more model and price options than Apple currently provides.

This astonishing speed of eBay sales doesn’t show signs of slowing down as eBay users begin to look for less expensive alternative to the iPhone. Furthermore, the iPhone hasn’t had any new releases since the summer of 2008-will Apple pick up the pace?

Recently, blogger Paul Kedrosky commented on the sharp increase in the American savings rate. This level of national savings has not been seen since 1997. Given this information, it is easy to see how when compared to the more expensive iPhone, auctioned Blackberries present a more attractive offer to the budget conscious consumer.

Commenting on the appointment, Ian H. Stewart, Q.C. and AERS Chair says, “Thrifty Foods is a Vancouver Island success story and one of Canada’s most respected providers of high-quality products. Alex Campbell is widely respected and will bring to the company his unrivalled experience in adapting business processes to facilitate continued growth and success.”

Prior to joining the board, Campbell built Vancouver Island’s single largest private sector company into a small empire of 4,100 employees. In 2007, he sold his company to Sobeys Inc. and continues to be involved in an advisory capacity.

“Given its past achievements and its energetic pursuit of new technological horizons, AERS exhibits tremendous growth potential,” says Campbell. “I know that long-term relationships require and thrive on integrity, honesty and clarity of communications, loyalty, respect and service. AERS and its employees share these values and are committed to upholding them in all aspects of AERS business affairs. I am honored and delighted to join this team.”

Other board members include: Rhys T. Eyton; Robin H. French; David H. McMillan; James H. Reed; Fred Speckeen, President and CEO; Brent Sternig;
Andrew E.R. Sukow, Chief Technical Officer; and Anthony E. R. Sukow, Executive Vice President and Board Secretary. For a full biography of the AERS Board of Directors, please use the following link: http://www.aers.ca/board.php

“Our board directors enjoy a strong collaborative relationship. The members bring a wealth of diverse knowledge and experience to the company. Collectively the board has more than 250 years of combined business expertise spanning such diverse sectors as telecommunications, entertainment, grocery, media, and transportation. We welcome Mr. Campbell and look forward to working with him,” adds President and CEO Fred Speckeen.

About Advanced Economic Research Systems Inc.

Advanced Economic Research Systems is a fast growing e-commerce data and analytics company. Privately held, the company is headquartered in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The company has two strategic business units – Terapeak and Data Unison, which deliver data and analytics based on the world’s largest e-commerce platform, eBay.

Today, AERS 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, AERS websites receive over 1,000,000 page views per month.  For more information: www.aers.ca

For further information: Moira King, Moira King Communications, Mobile:
(250) 217-0659, Email: moiraking [a] shaw.ca, Fax: (250) 658-3493