Red Bend Software, which specialises in Mobile Software Management, has revealed that its vRapid Mobile and vDirect Mobile software products shipped in 680 million mobile devices worldwide through 2009 from manufacturers including LG, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and HTC. In 2009, manufacturers shipped 246 new Red Bend-Enabled device models, compared to 137 in 2008. In addition, during Q4 2009, Red Bend renewed a top manufacturer contract and signed five new customers, for a total of 57 licensees of its standards-based, cross-platform solutions for mobile software updating and device management.
While worldwide handset shipments declined 5.2% in 2009 according to IDC, Red Bend says that market demand for it firmware over-the-air (FOTA) updating software and Open Mobile Alliance Device Management (OMA-DM) client was strong, particularly for connected wireless devices. This category now accounts for nearly 10% of devices with the companys software, driven by operators need to manage all wirelessly connected devices in a standards-based, unified manner. Red Bend-enabled devices include Smartphones, WiMAX modems, netbooks and machine-to-machine (M2M) modules.
 2009 was a very good year for Red Bend, in spite of the challenging global economy, says CEO Yoram Salinger. Our customer momentum, market expansion and financials were stronger than ever. We renewed and expanded key contracts, added many new customers including Borqs and Fujitsu, and expanded our relationships with two of the most respected global operators, China Mobile and NTT DoCoMo. I believe our performance will remain strong in 2010. The number of customer engagements under way continues to exceed past years, and each of our territories is forecasting growth as we expand into new products and new markets.