Asia/Pacific and Latin America Regions of Growing Importance for Software
Publishers

April 4, 1994 (Washington, DC) -- PC application software sales in the
Asia/Pacific and Latin America regions were $637 million in 1993,
according to a report released today by the Software Publishers
Association (SPA). Application software sales grew by 53% between 1992 and
1993 in the regions for which the SPA had sales figures for both years.

Japan was the largest market in Asia for US software. In 1993, US
publishers reporting sales to the SPA recorded $306.4 million in Japanese
sales, a 73% increase over 1992 sales. Japanese software purchasers
aggressively moved to graphic user interface-based software in 1993. Sales
of both Windows applications (up 236%) and Macintosh applications (up
144%) were booming in Japan. Reporting publishers' overall unit volumes in
Japan were up 128% for the year.

Reflecting lingering softness in their economies, sales in the Australia
and New Zealand region were $141,1 million in 1993, which is only a 13%
increase over 1992. Unit sales were up 39% for the period. Sales by
reporting publishers in other Asia/Pacific markets (including Korea,
Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and others) totaled $86.4 million in 1993.

Reporting companies' sales in Latin America totaled $103 million in 1993,
an 80% increase over 1992. Unit sales for the region were up 157% for the
period. Sales in Mexico were $37 million for the year, while sales in
Brazil were $20 million. Separate growth figures are not available for
Brazil and Mexico.

Asia/Pacific and Latin America Software Sales, 1993

Country/Region                         1993 Sales     Growth Rate
                                      ($ millions)
Asia/Pacific
  Australia & New Zealand                141.1            13%
  Japan                                  306.4            73%
  Other Markets                           86.4            N/A
  Sub-Total, Asia/Pacific                533.9            N/A

Latin America
  Brazil                                  20.1            N/A
  Mexico                                  36.9            N/A
  Total Latin America *                  103.0            80%

Grand Total                              636.9            53%**

* Includes sales in Brazil and Mexico, as well as other Central and South
American markets not listed in the table.

** Growth rate calculated based on sales in Japan, Australia, New Zealand
and Latin America.

"These figures show a growing opportunity for US publishers in the
Asia/Pacific and Latin America regions," said SPA Research Director David
Tremblay. "While most of these areas are not as large as are European
markets, they are growing more rapidly than all but one European market.
However, with piracy rates over 90% in some of these countries, publishers
need to be cautious in their entry strategies. But, with large and growing
markets (Japan), or minimal language barriers (Australia and New Zealand),
or new accessibility and intellectual property protection due to NAFTA
(Mexico), many of these markets deserve a look by publishers who want to
expand their scope beyond the US and even Europe. "

Sales data in this release are from the SPA's International Data Program.
Forty-one primarily US-based software firms participate in the program by
submitting confidential data to the accounting firm of Arthur Andersen,
which prepares the report for the SPA. Among the participants are: Aldus,
Borland, Claris, Lotus, Microsoft, Software Publishing, Symantec, and
WordPerfect.

The Software Publishers Association is the principal trade association of
the PC software industry. Its more than 1,000 members represent the
leading publishers in the business, consumer, and education markets. The
SPA has offices in Washington, DC, and Paris, France.

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

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