Worldwide enterprise software revenue is forecast to total $222.6 bln in 2009, reflecting a flat 0.3% growth rate from 2008 revenue of $221.9 bln, according to Gartner.
49 mln desktops to virtually hosted by 2013
The worldwide hosted virtual desktop (HVD) market will accelerate through 2013 to reach 49 mln units, up from more than 500,000 units in 2009, according to Gartner. Worldwide HVD revenue will grow from about $1.3 bln to $1.5 bln in 2009, which is less than 1% of the worldwide professional PC market, to $65.7 bln in 2013, which will be equal to more than 40% of the worldwide professional PC market. Gartner estimates that approximately 15% of current worldwide traditional professional desktop PCs will migrate to HVDs by 2014, equal to about 66 mln connected devices. US will reach double that of the worldwide average with over 18 mln connected devices. After an initial slow start, the HVD market will rally in 2010 and 2011.
Managed services for mobile networks generated $19 bln in 2008
Managed services for mobile networks returned about $19 bln revenue in 2008, ($5.8 bln for network services and $13.4 bln for IT-related services.) Europe led managed services adoption: Tier One operators there face stiff competition, so they have turned to managed services to improve their margins. According to a new study from ABI Research, that $19 bln figure represents only a small part of the potential addressable market.
16.5% of mobile users spent over $100 in app stores
An ABI Research survey of US smartphone users who installed applications on their devices in 2008, conducted in November 2008, reveals that a surprising 16.5% spent between $100 and $499. That level of spending is especially significant given the low cost of most mobile applications, ranging from as little as a dollar or two at Apple’s iPhone App Store, to at most about $25.
Virtualisation revenues to reach $2.7 bln in 2009
Worldwide virtualisation software revenue will increase 43% from $1.9 bln in 2008 to $2.7 bln in 2009, according to Gartner. Global virtualisation penetration is on pace to reach 20% in 2009 from 12% in 2008. Gartner estimates that revenue from hosted virtual desktops will more than triple from $74.1 mln to $298.6 mln in 2009 while revenue from server virtualisation management software will increase 42% from $913.9 mln in 2008 to $1.3 bln in 2009. Revenue from server virtualisation infrastructure will grow 22.5% from $917 mln in 2008 to $1.1 bln in 2009.
Airlines to lose $3.5 bln due to high-def conferenceware
Gartner predicts that high-definition based video meeting solutions will replace 2.1 mln airline seats annually, costing the travel and hospitality industry $3.5 bln per year. From 2009 to 2013 the server virtualisation software market will grow with a CAGR of 28%, rising from $1.8 bln to $6.2 bln.
Game hardware and software generated $22 bln in 2008
Computer and video game industry hardware, software and peripheral sales climbed to $22 bln in 2008, with entertainment software sales comprising $11.7 bln of that total figure, a 22.9% jump over 2007, Entertainment Software Association announced. The industry set the new record, calculated by market-research firm NPD Group, on the strength of December 2008 sales, when industry revenue ($5.3 bln) topped $5 bln for the first time in any single month. By comparison, as recently as 1997, the industry generated $5.1 bln over the entire year. In 2008, total US video game console software sales reached $8.9 bln (189.0 mln units), PC game sales hit $701.4 mln (29.1 mln units), and portable software topped 2007’s record sales with $2.1 bln (79.5 mln units) in revenue. Overall, retailers sold approximately 297.6 mln computer and video games 2007.
Top PC game titles in the US in 2008
| Rank | Game Title | Publisher | AU% | Avg Minutes Played Per Week |
| 1 | World of Warcraft | Blizzard Entertainment | 0.723 | 671 |
| 2 | Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare | Activision | 0.163 | 403 |
| 3 | Halo: Combat Evolved | Microsoft Game Studios | 0.092 | 295 |
| 4 | Sims, The | Electronic Arts Inc. | 0.09 | 213 |
| 5 | Sims 2, The | Electronic Arts Inc. | 0.086 | 291 |
| 6 | RuneScape | Jagex Ltd. | 0.084 | 451 |
| 7 | Diablo II | Blizzard Entertainment | 0.065 | 313 |
| 8 | Team Fortress 2 | Valve | 0.063 | 371 |
| 9 | Counter-Strike | Sierra Studios | 0.062 | 282 |
| 10 | Counter-Strike: Source | Valve | 0.061 | 426 |
| Source: Nielsen | ||||
90% of organizations to keep or grow their usage of software as a service
90% of organizations surveyed expect to maintain or grow their usage of software as a service (SaaS), citing cost-effectiveness and ease/speed of deployment as primary reasons for adoption, according to Gartner. 62% of North American respondents said that they expected new investments to increase slightly and 15% said that they expected new investments to increase significantly compared with 49% and 15%, respectively, in Europe and 55% and 5%, respectively, in Asia/Pacific. North America was an early adopter of solutions delivered through the SaaS model, with more than 20% of respondents indicating use for five years or longer and 60% having adopted it in the last three years.
Worldwide storage software revenue in Q2 2008
| Vendor | Q2 2008 Revenue | Q2 2008 Market Share | Q2 2007 Revenue | Q2 2007 Market Share | Growth, YTY |
| 1. EMC | $745 | 24.2% | $685 | 25.4% | 8.7% |
| 2. Symantec | $588 | 19.1% | $464 | 17.2% | 26.9% |
| 3. IBM | $409 | 13.3% | $364 | 13.5% | 12.3% |
| 4. NetApp | $239 | 7.8% | $215 | 8.0% | 11.3% |
| 5. Hewlett-Packard | $147 | 4.8% | $131 | 4.9% | 12.5% |
| 5. CA | $136 | 4.4% | $129 | 4.8% | 5.2% |
| Others | $812 | 26.4% | $706 | 26.2% | 14.9% |
| All Vendors | $3,076 | 100.0% | $2,694 | 100.0% | 14.2% |
| Source: IDC | |||||
85% of US companies using open source
85% of companies are using open-source software, with most of the remaining 15% expecting to do so within the 2009, according to Gartner. 31% of companies had formal policies for evaluating and procuring open-source software.
Video game hardware and software sales up 18% in October 2008
US sales of video game hardware and software rose 18% in October 2008 from October 2007, after falling 7% in September 2008, as Wii console sold over 800,000 units, NPD reported.
Cloud computing usage depending on age
| Age group | 18-29 | 30-49 | 50-64 | 65+ |
| Use webmail services such as Hotmail, Gmail, or Yahoo! mail |
77% | 58% | 44% | 27% |
| Store personal photos | 50 | 34 | 26 | 19 |
| Use online applications such as Google Documents or Adobe Photoshop Express |
39 | 28 | 25 | 19 |
| Store personal videos | 14 | 6 | 5 | 2 |
| Pay to store computer files online | 9 | 4 | 5 | 3 |
| Back up hard drive to an online site | 7 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| Have done at least one activity | 87% | 71% | 59% | 46% |
| Have done at least two activities | 59 | 39 | 31 | 21 |
| Source: Pew Internet Project | ||||
UK video games market to grow 42% in 2008
Verdict Research predicted that the video games market would grow by 1.37 bln pounds or 42% in 2008, outstripping music and video sales. That would value the games market at 4.64 bln pounds compared to the 4.46 bln pounds spent on music and videos.
Global software market in Q2 2008 reached $3.1 bln
According to IDC, the worldwide storage software market experienced its 19th consecutive quarter of YTY growth in Q2 2008 with revenues of $3.1 bln, a 14.2% increase over Q2 2007. This was the first time that the worldwide storage software market surpassed $3 bln in revenues in Q3 2008. The overall storage software market grew at a faster rate in the second quarter than in the usually slow first quarter of the year. The year-over-year growth for 2Q08 was 14.2% compared to 9.4% for Q1 2008. Most of the top vendors experienced accelerated growth in the second quarter, which helps to explain the strong Q2 results.
Search and discovery software market will grow 17% in 2008
IDC still predicts 17% growth for search and discovery software in 2008 and 12.9% growth for 2009. This is down from the 28% growth we saw in 2007, but certainly a healthy increase, according to IDC.
Nordic packaged software market will grow 7.2% in 2008
The Nordic market for packaged software saw significant growth in 2007, according to IDC. At 8.6% growth, the market grew as fast as the record growth of 2006, and in 2007 the total packaged software market reached a value of 6 bln euro in the Nordic region. IDC believes the software market will be fairly resilient to the slowdown in the investment climate, but we nevertheless expect a gradual slowing down of the software market to 7.2% this year and 6.4% in 2009.
US game spending down 7% in September 2008
Americans spent $1.27 bln on video games in September 2008, down 7% from September 2007. Hardware sales dropped 9% to $497.98 mln and software sales fell 6% to $616.1 mln. Nintendo Wii and DS held their place as the two best-selling gaming systems. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 sold 347,200 units during the month, in third place and up 78% from August 2008.
Virtual economies employ 400,000 people in 2008
In 2008 the virtual game economy employs 400,000 people who earn an average of $145 per month, creating a global market worth about $500 mln, according to Professor Richard Heeks from the University of Manchester. 80% of virtual game workers are based in China.
PC gaming generated $10.7 bln in 2007
PC gaming was a $10.7 bln industry during the year of 2007, with retail sales accounting for just 30% of total revenues. According to PC Gaming Alliance, growth was largely driven by online revenues from Asia, the world’s largest market, which is approaching half of total worldwide sales. Online PC gaming revenue led the way in 2007 with $4.8 bln, nearly double the worldwide retail sales numbers for PC games. Digital distribution sales approached $2 bln, while advertising revenues from websites, portals, and in-game ads accounted for $800 mln.
Video game hardware and software sales up 28% in July 2008
US sales of video game hardware and software soared 28% in July 2008, hitting $1.19 bln. According to NPD Group, Americans bought $446.9 mln worth of video game hardware during the month, a 17% jump from July 2007.
EAS market in the Czech Republic declined 4.5% YTY in 2007
Expansion of the enterprise application software (EAS) market in the Czech Republic slowed to 4.5% year on year in 2007, down from 6.4% in 2006. The value of the market exceeded $117 mln in 2007. In 2008, IDC expects the market to regain momentum and expand by a further 10% to reach a value of $129 mln . In 2007, enterprise resource management (ERM) remained the largest functional area of the Czech enterprise application software market, accounting for 41.6% of EAS market value. Customer relationship management (CRM) increased in popularity, rising from fourth place in 2006 to second place last year to account for just under a fifth of the market. Operations and manufacturing modules were the third most in demand, with a 17% share. Supply chain management (SCM) represented 15% of the total market, while integrated business analytics (BA) accounted for 7.1%, according to IDC.
VMware has 82% share of market of virtualized servers, Microsoft has 13%
VMware is the clear market leader in providing virtualization technology with 82% of the sample using VMware. Despite high levels of Linux use, only 3% of the sample were using Xen as their virtualization platform. Microsoft was used by 13% of the sample base with various Unix technologies and mainframe accounting for 14%. 59% of implementations have fewer than four VMs or partitions per physical box. 23% of virtualization users report that their application vendors’ licensing is still not meeting their needs and 33% of large businesses report that it limits use of virtualization, according to IDC.
RDBMS market reached $18.8 bln in 2007
2007 was a year that saw continued steady growth in the relational database management systems (RDBMS) market, with signal improvements on the part of several of the top five vendors in this space. The RDBMS market is estimated to have grown by 12.6% from $16.7 bln in 2006 to $18.8 bln in 2007, according to IDC.
Virtualization growth rising from 46% in 2007 to 54% in 2008
The pace of adoption of virtualized servers is incredibly rapid among organizations that are using virtualization, with 35% of servers purchased in 2007 being virtualized and 52% of those bought in 2008 expected to be so. 54% of those not using virtualization expect to do so in the next 18 months. Growth of virtualization as a strategy remains strong, rising from 46% of the base to 54%, according to IDC.