European PC Application Software Shipments Reached Nearly $2 Billion in
1995

Highest Fourth - Quarter Revenue in History

April 3, 1996 (Washington, DC) - The Software Publishers Association (SPA)
announced today that 1995 annual personal computer application software
revenues of U.S. publishers in Western Europe reached $1.99 billion. This
level represents a 19 percent increase from 1994, reversing the trend of
revenue declines on increasing unit shipments. Although unit sales rose
twice as fast, 41 percent, as revenues over the period, revenues did not
decline over the previous year. The fourth quarter of 1995 posted the
highest sales ever reported for the region - $642.7 million, with October,
rather than December, as the highest sales month. This is believed to be
the result of the introduction of Windows 95 applications that month in
most European markets.

Windows Market Share Breaks 90 Percent

Increased shipments to Europe during the Windows 95 introduction in the
fourth quarter raised the combined Windows 3.x and Windows 95 market share
to 92 percent for all of 1995, compared with 87 percent for 1994. DOS and
Macintosh hold 3.5 percent and 3.8 percent respectively. In the fourth
quarter, Windows revenues were 35 percent higher than in Q4 94, while DOS
and Macintosh revenues were each 35 percent lower. Unit shipments'
patterns were more varied, with Windows up 46 percent, DOS down 15 percent
and Macintosh 4 percent lower than Q4 94.

All Major European Markets Showed Revenue Increases in 1995

The table below shows the sales results by country/region for Western
Europe.

Germany and Austria had the highest sales in the fourth quarter, as well as
the largest sales increase. Revenues for 1995 were $537.6 million - a 22
percent increase over 1994. The United Kingdom and Ireland placed second
for both the quarter and the year with 28 percent growth for Q4 95 and a
17 percent increase over annual 1994 to $465 million. France was the
number-three market in 1995, with sales up 21 percent to $120 million for
the fourth quarter and $323 million for 1995 as a whole.

   1995 Software Sales in U.S. Dollars
   (See: www.spa.org/prsig/media.htm for table data!)

"The figures show that the sales growth in Western Europe was widespread
and not confined to just a few markets," said Jim Sanders, SPA research
director.

"Only in Switzerland were sales in the single digits for the year, and most
markets had very strong fourth-quarter shipments."

"The figures also show that pricing declines are still having an impact on
revenues," said Gerard Gabella, SPA Europe managing director. "The
industry's quarterly unit growth rates were between 25 percent and 65
percent in 1995, averaging 40 percent for the year. But, average prices
are still declining from 1994, so that revenue growth for the year is only
half as large."

Thirty-eight primarily U.S.-based software firms participate in SPA's data
program by submitting confidential data to the accounting firm of Arthur
Andersen, which prepares the report for SPA. Among the participants are:
Adobe, Borland, Claris, Lotus, Microsoft Corp., Software Publishing,
Symantec and the WordPerfect Division of Novell. The sales data were
collected in 33 software categories (including word processors,
spreadsheets, presentation graphics and others) and in six operating
systems (including DOS, Macintosh and Windows).

SPA'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.
 
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