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issue #554 : : april 8, 2008 |
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In this issue: JPR Says CAD Grew 20%; I Disagree
Would / Could / Should Google Impact the CAD Industry?
Out of the Inbox and the other regular columns. |
Write the editor. Make him smile! Through Paypal, consider donating $25 in support of upFront.eZine. Or else... We're trendy. We have a Weblog. WorldCAD Access. |
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JPR Says CAD Grew 20%; I Disagree Jon Peddie Research reports that "The CAD software market increased an astounding 20% [to $5,235 million] in 2007 compared to 2006..." The statement has several implications:
Problem is, I don't know too many CAD vendors exceeding 20% growth; most are in the under-20% range. These are the most recent year-over-year recent numbers for some of the larger CAD vendors: Autodesk Q4
up 20% (UGS results are buried in with Siemens', while privately-owned Intergraph and Bentley Systems don't need to report results.) I wondered how JPR arrived at these numbers are arrived at, particularly in light of their next statistic: "In 2007, the worldwide installed base of CAD users reached 5.31 million..." 5.3 million seems low, don't it? Contrast that with Autodesk's claim of an installed base of 8.1 million for just AutoCAD (4,114,000), LT (3,335,000), and Inventor (676,000) alone. [I have since learned from Autodesk's annual report that these numbers include crossgrades(**).] That's just one vendor, albeit numero uno. Other CAD vendors add millions more to the total. Report author Kathleen Maher explained the methodology to me: "I ask everyone who will tell me; some companies are more forthcoming than others. Some times competitors have a pretty good idea about realistic numbers. I keep track of publicly released numbers. Of course, installed base numbers are always very high; they're often counted from [serial number] 001. "I also take ASPs [average selling price] and divide them into revenues, which is tricky because I have to figure out which part of the revenue is actually for the CAD application. I take into consideration information about upgrades, crossgrades, new licenses, and so on. "Another reference point that we have here at Jon Peddie Research is that we also track how many workstations and high-end graphics boards are shipped. All those things go into the pot and are weighted against each other to get an idea of the numbers. "In the end, there are only just so many professionals in the world, something I've been learning as I've been doing this. In general, the companies I've been working with have found my numbers creditable." The full JPR report is US$5,000 from www.jonpeddie.com --- (*) Here's the logic employed by some CAD CEOs: "If the CAD market is not growing much, and if we have 10%-15%-20% growth, then we must be taking market share from our competitors." Problem is, if the CAD market is growing 20%, then these sub-20%-growth CEOs are actually losing market share. (**) Crossgrades are changeover licenses, such as from AutoCAD to Inventor. Would
/ Randall Newton of AECnews.com notes that it's been nearly two years since Google bought SketchUp from atLast Software. The world's most important Internet company made one version of the software free, and established the Warehouse of free 3D parts. I'm disappointed at the lack of impact of Google's acquisition has had on the CAD industry. But not surprised, because Google doesn't know how to market CAD; nor does it seem to be aware that our niche exists. Kind of like how Visio became nearly invisible once Microsoft bought it. Except that SketchUp is free, so that has allowed it to maintain exposure for itself. Or maybe Google doesn't want to market CAD software, preferring it to be discovered. (I can understand that; upFront.eZine works the same way.) Although many CAD vendors now have free versions of software, I don't think this was a result of Google making SketchUp free. Or maybe it was. After all, several CAD vendors copied the concept of Google Labs. TeamViewer desktop sharing software now works with Mac, and offers cross-platform support: Mac to PC and vice versa). Beta version can be downloaded from www.teamviewer.com IMSI/Design's newly released TurboCAD Deluxe v15 ($129.95) supports:
And more. www.TurboCAD.com Okino ships certified Inventor 2009 CAD conversion system for 3ds Max 2009, Maya 2008, Lightwave v9, Cinema-4D v10.5, XSI v6, and others. It allowds crack-free geometry, hierarchy (assembly data), and materials to be transferred from native Inventor files directly into Okino data-conversion-compliant programs. www.okino.com/solutions/autodesk_inventor.htm QuadriSpace ships QuadriSpace 2008:
30-day trial from www.quadrispace.com/products/trial.htm after registration. [Does this read like a company that Autodesk should buy?] Siemens PLM Software ships v38.0 of 3D Dimensional Constraint Manager, Assembly Engineering Manager, Collision Detection Manager, and Hidden Line Manager. www.plm.automation.siemens.com/en_us/products/open/d-cubed/latest_releases/ LandPrints generates full-color physical relief models of almost any location by directing digital terrain data from NASA and the US Geological Survey to Z Corp's 3D printers. Prices start at $24; www.LandPrint.com Dassault Systemes ships Abaqus simulation software for its own CATIA V5 R18 SP4. www.simulia.com/products/afc_v5 COADE releases CADWorx Design Review 2008 for reviewing 3D models from CADWorx and other plant design software. www.coade.com CADnection updates its software to integrate AutoCAD and Microsoft SharePoint, a server-based program for sharing data and managing content. www.cadnection.com Artesys International and VRcontext SA release a bidirectional interface for their software, OPIDIS and Walkinside. Users can access plant documents using hyperlinks placed by OPIDIS automatically, or through tagged components in the Walkinside 3D VR. www.artesys.com and www.vrcontext.com - - - These news items were posted during the last week at the WorldCAD Access blog < worldcadaccess.typepad.com>:
Seminars & Conferences ESRI Canada Regional User Conference is Apr 8 in London, Ontario Canada. www.esricanada.com 3D Interop and Collaboration is May 15-16 in Denver CO USA. www.3dinterop.com nVIDIA's nVISION 08 is Aug 25-27 in San Jose CA USA. www.nvision2008.com Magazine/eZine/Weblog Updates Greg Robinson launches http://Lispwiki.com as a source code repository for AutoCAD users and programmers to access any customization technique: ARX, VBA, VisualLISP, AutoLISP, DIESEL, DCL, MNU, SHP, and so on.
People/Companies on the Move Dassault Systemes appoints Laurence Dors-Meary as senior executive vp of global development and resources, a new position. Ms Dors-Meary is the former corporate secretary for EADS Group. Bentley Systems creates Bentley BrIM [Bridge Information Modeling] as a new business unit under senior vp Gabe Norona. ASCON becomes a member of the Oracle PartnerNetwork, and can now use Oracle technology for developing ASCON's CAD/CAM/PLM solutions. AutoForm Engineering becomes a member of Dassault Systemes' Component Application Architecture. Its sheet metal forming software is integrated with CATIA. www.autoform.com
Brand New CAD Books/eBooks 3D Manufacturing Innovation: Revolutionary Change
in Japanese Manufacturing with Digital Data To purchase for $94.90 from Amazon.com, follow this link: - - - Customizing SolidWorks For Greater Productivity To purchase in paperback from Amazon.com, follow this link: - - - What's Inside? AutoCAD 2009 - Third Edition
WorthWhile Web http://www.butkus.org/chinon/index.html
Letters to the Editor "Great EULA coverage, thanks."
"Autodesk [Australia] are very pleased to announce
the appointment of KPMG as their partner in the delivery of Autodesk's
License Compliance Review Program." - - - Re: Number 6 Psychology "I had done this test on a number of people three years
ago, and based on what I had read before the tests, and confirmed
myself, the number 7 was supposed to be the most popular pick. I
guess any number higher than 5 and lower than 10 fits the bill!" The editor replies: "And then you have someone like me, who picks 2 to be different." Mr Lansdale responds: "There is always someone who has to define the upper and lower bounds of a bell curve."
"So you held it over for April Fools day. BBC had a story
on flying penguins this morning. Plus www.laptopsdirect.co.uk are
offering up to £5000 for 'body advertising' with their logo."
Spin Doctor of the Moment "16-year-old named pen-spinning king." "Find how to tell if a child is gifted" - Associated items at yahoo.com, 3 April 2008.
Notable Quotable "A feature that anyone can add is not a sustainable differentiation."
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