Japan Becomes US Publishers' Largest Software Market Outside North America

Asia/Pacific Region Software Sales Rise 45% To Reach $208 Million for Third
Quarter 1994

December 19, 1994 (Washington, DC) - The Software Publishers Association
(SPA) announced today that sales of personal computer application software
reached $208 million in the Asia/Pacific region in the third quarter of
1994 (Q3'94), a 45% increase from the third quarter of 1993 (Q3'93). For
the first three quarters of 1994, sales were $565 million, an increase of
46% from the same period in 1993. Unit sales increased 119% for the third
quarter, and 106% for the first three quarters.

Japan US Publishers' Largest Software Market Outside North America

Sales growth in Japan continued to be very strong in Q3 '94. In the
quarter, application software sales by US firms totaled $132.3 million, a
62% increase from Q3 '93. For the first three quarters, Japan sales were
up 65% to $359 million. Sales in Japan for Q3 '94 were up on the strength
of Windows (up 150%) and Macintosh (62%) applications. For the quarter,
DOS sales were off 52%. US publishers' unit sales in Japan were up 155%
for Q3 '94 and 123% for the first three quarters.

"The third quarter marked a milestone for US software publishers'
international sales," said David Tremblay, SPA's Research Director.. " In
the quarter, Japan became the largest international market for US
publishers, surpassing the largest markets in Western Europe. With first
three quarter sales of $359 million, Japan is now a larger software market
for US firms than are Germany/Austria ($342 million for the first three
quarters), and the UK/Ireland ($319 million). And in contrast to those
European markets, which were off 43% and 12% respectively in Q3 '94,
software sales in Japan continues to surge ahead."

Other Asia/Pacific Regions Show Good Growth

Sales growth for the quarter in other Asia/Pacific regions was good, but
not as strong as in Japan. Sales in Australia/New Zealand were $45.6
million, a 28% increase from Q3 '93. That growth was the fastest growth
seen since the third quarter of 1991. For the first three quarters, sales
were up 19% to $126.8 million.

Sales in the "Asian Tiger" economies totaled $30.4 million for the quarter
and $80.8 million for the first three quarters of 1994. At 15% for Q3 '94
and 24% for the first three quarters, sales growth in these economies was
more moderate than in Australia/New Zealand and Japan. (Since sales of
individual countries were not separated in 1993, SPA is not able to
provide individual country-level growth rates at this time.)

Asia/Pacific Growth Exceeds North America and Western Europe

While North America and Western Europe remain larger markets, growth rates
in the Asia/Pacific regions were generally higher. In Q3 '94, Western
Europe sales were off 20%, while sales in North American were up 15%. At
62%, the increase in sales in Japan was four times the North America
increase. Australia/New Zealand sales were up 28%, nearly twice the North
America increase. The increase for the "Asian Tiger" economies, at 15%,
matched the North America increase in Q3 '94.

Sales data reported are from the SPA's International Data Program, and
represent total revenues in these regions of the forty primarily US-based
software firms participating in the SPA's International Data Program. The
companies submit their confidential sales data to the accounting firm of
Arthur Andersen, which prepares the report for the SPA. Among the
participants are Adobe, Borland, Claris, Lotus, Microsoft, Software
Publishing, Symantec, and the WordPerfect Division of Novell. While US
companies have the dominant market share in most of these regions, the
figures reported should not be taken as an estimate of the total market
size. Rather, they represent total sales of the reporting companies.

The Software Publishers Association is the principal trade association of
the PC software industry. Its 1,100 members represent the leading
publishers in the business, consumer, and education markets. The SPA has
offices in Washington, DC, and Paris, France. SPA press releases are
available on-line through CompuServe (GO:SPAFORUM), and from SPA's faxback
service at 800 637-6823.

Software Publishers Association
1730 M St, Northwest, Suite 700, Washington, D.C. 20036
202-452-1600,  Fax: 202-223-8756

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