SpeechWorks Achieves Leading U.S. Market Share Position

Frost & Sullivan recognized SpeechWorks as a North American market share leader in telephony-based speech technology software and professional services revenues in the research firm's 2002 annual report on the speech recognition industry. This category combines telephony-based automated speech recognition, text-to-speech (TTS) and speaker verification software licenses and professional services revenues in the U.S. and Canada.

"In 2002, SpeechWorks maintained a leadership position in the North American speech technologies market," said Elka Popova, Frost & Sullivan industry analyst. "The company's success is attributed to its penetration in the enterprise market and demand for its professional services expertise."

The Frost & Sullivan report further states that SpeechWorks has the leading market share position in both North American speaker verification license revenues and professional services revenues, and that the Company maintains a healthy market share of North American TTS license and services revenues.

Based on additional audited financial data, SpeechWorks' lead in the U.S. market is most notably realized in its commanding presence in U.S. enterprise license revenues, which accounted for 21 percent of the company's 2002 full year revenues. These organizations, in additional to U.S. telecommunications providers, also turned to SpeechWorks for its expertise in application development, user interface design and other professional services. As a result, the company's U.S. professional services 2002 revenues nearly doubled those of its closest competitor. Combined, these factors contribute to SpeechWorks' strong leadership position in the U.S. telephony-based speech technology market.

"The U.S. has been and remains the primary and largest market for speech services. In 2002 in a challenging economy, leading enterprise, telco and government organizations continued to turn to SpeechWorks as experts in the application of speech technologies and services that produce significant bottom line results," said Steve Chambers, chief marketing officer at SpeechWorks. "We're proud that our dedication to customer results once again fueled the leading market share position for SpeechWorks in North America."