Web Design Software Market Hot

Worldwide Web authoring and design software revenues skyrocketed to $243 million in 1998, representing 144 percent growth from 1997, according to International Data Corporation (IDC).

The growth in this market will continue to accelerate over the next few years and revenues will surge past $1 billion by the middle of 2002.

“As more and more people create Internet and intranet sites, the market for the tools to create them is exploding,” said Joan-Carol Brigham, research manager with IDC’s Internet Marketplace research program. “Web authoring design tools have improved in two major areas: sophistication, which pleases the high-end Web design firm, and in ease of use. The impressive growth in this market cab be attributed to the large number of small and medium-sized businesses that have recently come online because of the leaps in ease of use.”

Products in the Web authoring and design software market are currently created for either the Windows or Macintosh platform. According to IDC, the Macintosh segment of this market is in demise. Revenues on the Mac platform will deteriorate from $34 million in 1998 to $29 million in 2003, according to IDC. During that same time, Windows revenues will soar from $209 million to more than $1.2 billion.

Microsoft is benefiting the most from this explosive market opportunity. In 1998, its FrontPage product captured a dominating 74 percent of revenues on the Windows platform. Adobe, with PageMill and CyberStudio, was the leading vendor in the Macintosh segment with 46 percent of 1998 revenues.

In 1998, the US accounted for almost 58 percent of the total worldwide market with $140 million. However IDC expects growth in the US market will peak in 1999, and by 2001, the international market will be larger.

“Vendors are going to have to increase their efforts to deliver rapid product localization and adequate marketing abroad by 2000, which could be costly for unprepared vendors, Brigham said.