European Software Sales Reach $484 million in First Quarter 1993 Sales up
19% from last year

July 6, 1993 (Washington, DC) - The Software Publishers Association (SPA)
announced today that North American software firms' revenues in Western
Europe were $484 million in the first quarter of 1993, a 19% increase in
revenues with a 61% growth in units compared with the first quarter 1992.

Forty-one primarily US-based software firms participated in the SPA's data
program by submitting confidential data to the accounting firm of Arthur
Andersen, which prepared the report for the SPA. Among the participants
are: Aldus, Borland, Claris, Lotus, Microsoft, Software Publishing,
Symantec, and WordPerfect. The data was collected in 22 software
categories (including word processors, spreadsheets, presentation
graphics, and others) and in six software formats (including DOS,
Macintosh, and Windows).

The participating companies reported total sales in Western Europe of
$484.4 million in the first quarter of 1993. Sales of Windows-based
products surged 71% compared with the first quarter of 1992, reaching
$338.1 million in the '93 quarter. Windows products now account for 70% of
participating publishers' sales in Europe. Sales of DOS-based applications
declined 37% for the period, to $102.6 million. Sales of Macintosh-based
applications grew 3% to $39.1 million.

Growth rates varied widely among the regions in which the SPA collects
data. The Germany/Austria region remained the largest, with sales of
$151.9 million. It was also the fastest growing, with a growth rate of
56%. The United Kingdom/Ireland region was next largest, with sales of
$119.5 million (up 11%), while France was third, on sales of $80.3 million
(up 10%).

"Although the overall growth rate of 19% is identical to the rate for all
of 1992, the individual regions' growth rates are different from what we
saw at the end of 1992," said Gerard Gabella, Managing Director of SPA
Europe. "The upswing in the Germany/Austria region was much higher than it
was in the last quarter of 1992 (56% vs 18%), while the rise in the United
Kingdom/Ireland region slowed (11% this quarter vs 18% for 1992). Sales
increases in France remained steady, at 10% for both quarters. Although up
only 3% this quarter, the market in Italy will bear watching in the
future. In March the Italian government began a series of actions designed
to increase their VAT receipts. Companies who pirate software instead of
buying it, thereby avoiding the VAT, are one of their targets. This has
resulted in much higher sales activity in the Italian market, which we
expect in future quarters will be reflected in our figures."

Word processing was once again the largest category of software sold, with
sales reaching $145 million for the quarter, a 4% increase over the 1992
quarter. Spreadsheets was the next largest category, with sales of $127
million, up 24%. Relational database sales were very strong for the
quarter, with sales up 140% to $52 million.

"The first quarter saw the introduction of Borland's Paradox for Windows
relational database, as well as the continued marketing roll-out of
Microsoft's Access relational database," said David Tremblay, the SPA's
Research Director. "Both products were offered with very aggressive
introductory pricing. The results are evident in SPA's figures: Relational
database sales in both Europe and North America were up 140%."

Established in 1984, the Software Publishers Association is the principal
trade association of the PC software industry. Its over 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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