The Swiss market for personal computer software is booming, Scandinavia, the UK, Italy and Benelux are growing fast, Germany and Austria are still growing well, but France – which shuts in August, and Spain and Portugal are in the doldrums. Overall during third quarter of 1992, Western European sales of North American software firms increased 33% to $380m according to the Software Publishers Association in Washington. The figures were compiled from the returns from 37 US-based software firms including all the big names, which submitted confidential data to accountants Arthur Andersen & Co, which prepared the report. The 33% uplift was the best yet for 1992, and brings year-to-date growth up to 20% The table shows the global findings of the report for the third quarter.
Sales Yr on yr gwth
Benelux $28m 44% France $63m 13% Germany and Austria $112m 25% Italy $12m 39% Scandinavia $38m 47% Spain and Portugal $10m 1% Switzerland $20m 170% UK and Ireland $97m 40%
Total $380 Average 33%
The Association warns that the figures should not be considered estimates of market size, since the sample includes only sales of major North American software firms in each market. In European software markets, North American micro software sales are generally about 70% of each country’s total market. The figures represent a continuation of recovery in the German and Austrian markets, the largest market for US-based companies. Sales in the UK and Ireland have remained strong all year with sales growth above 35% in all three quarters of 1992. The 13% uplift in France also represents a recovery from a first quarter decline of 4% and second quarter growth of only 2%. For the first time in several quarters, European growth in the third quarter was higher than was the growth in the North American market, which came to just 12%.Overall, Microsoft Corp Windows applications accounted for 58% of Western European applications revenue, while MS-DOS applications fell to 32%. Macintosh applications remained steady at 8%.
