CD Software Sales Reach $292 Million in Third Quarter 1995

Sales Up 225% As Business Products Accelerate

Washington, D.C., Feb. 15, 1996 - The Software Publishers Association (SPA)
has released third-quarter 1995 (Q3 95) figures from its CD Software Sales
Report. For the quarter, total sales of reporting companies were $291.7
million, a 225 percent increase over the $89.9 million reported for Q3 94.
For the first three quarters of 1995, total sales were $932.7 million, a
255 percent increase from the $262.6 million in the first three quarters
of 1994. Unit sales in the quarter were $9.8 million, a 204 percent
increase, while unit sales for the first three quarters were $22.7
million, up 195 percent.

Information for the third-quarter report is based on the aggregate sales
information of the companies who participate in SPA's CD Software Sales
Program by reporting quarterly sales information to the accounting firm
Ernst & Young, which prepares the report for SPA. Companies participating
in the third quarter report include Broderbund Software Inc., Davidson &
Associates, Microsoft Corp., Mindscape and Viacom New Media.

Business Products the Fastest Growing

The business product category has grown to the point where it was larger
than the combined entertainment and home education categories in both unit
and revenue terms. By the end of Q3 95, the business category was 10 times
larger than it had been a year ago, reaching $350 million for the
year-to-date.

"This quarter's growth rate is somewhat lower than the growth rates seen in
the comparable period in 1994," said Jim Sanders, SPA research director.
"However, it is still almost 10 times the 25 percent growth recorded for
the software industry overall. The CD segment remains a dynamic and
fast-growing segment of the industry, and the appeal of distributing and
buying software on CD is broadening. Although businesses still trail
consumers in their adoption of CD technology, CD sales in the business
categories this quarter clearly indicate an acceleration of businesses'
use of software on CDs."

The Software Publishers Association's focus is on companies developing and
publishing software applications and interactive content. SPA is the
leading trade association of the desktop software industry, representing
the leading publishers as well as many start-up firms in the business,
consumer and education markets. Its 1,200 members account for 90 percent
of the sales of the U.S. packaged software industry. SPA is an
international organization with offices both in the United States and
Europe. SPA press releases are available on SPA's Web site at
http://www.spa.org or through Fax-on-Demand 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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