Product-supply-chain vertical application market topped $13 billion in 1998 and will approach $23 billion in 2003, IDC says

Worldwide product-supply-chain vertical applications became a $13 billion market in 1998, and revenues are in the midst of a growth spurt that will drive them to $22.9 billion by 2003. This data comes from a new International Data Corporation (IDC) report titled Product-Supply-Chain Vertical Applications: 1999 Worldwide Markets and Trends.

Product-supply-chain vertical applications are developed and packaged specifically to support the flow of goods from the point of design to the point of sale; they include manufacturing-specific applications such as MRP and production-control software, mechanical-engineering applications such as MCAD products, and retail/wholesale-distribution-specific applications such as merchandise management and open-to-buy accounting.

"For the past few years, growth in the product-supply-chain vertical applications market has been driven by new functionality and a desire to upgrade legacy applications in response to 21st-century date-logic concerns," said Dennis Byron, director of IDC`s supply-chain applications research. "In the future, supply-chain automation and an increase in the number of casual users interacting with industry-specific applications will propel the market forward."

According to IDC, Unix was the operating environment of choice for product-supply-chain vertical applications in 1998 as Unix-based applications accounted for more than half of the market`s revenues. 32-bit Windows-based applications were a distant second with almost 22% of revenues. However, applications running in this operating environment are quickly increasing their penetration. By 2003, they will account for $9.5 billion, or almost 42% of the market. Unix`s share meanwhile will slip to under 48% with revenues close to $11 billion. "Almost all key packaged application suppliers participating in the product-supply-chain vertical application segment have committed to Windows 2000, Active Directory, Biztalk, and the various iterations of Microsoft`s Distributed interNetworking Architecture (DNA), including ActiveStore," Byron said.

Competition in the product-supply-chain vertical applications market is fierce. Unlike many mature IT markets, the top-10 suppliers account for only 33% of the total revenues; IDC tracks hundreds of other suppliers that participate in this market opportunity.

The United States spends more than other regions on these applications, deploying 45% of product-supply-chain vertical applications in 1998. Western Europe is the next-biggest market, accounting for 31% of the spending.

IDC`s new report, Product-Supply-Chain Vertical Applications: 1999 Worldwide Markets and Trends (IDC #B19095), looks at the major factors and key trends shaping this segment of the overall packaged applications market. A forecast through 2003 is included for all packaged applications specific to manufacturing - including mechanical engineering - and retail/wholesale distribution as are participating vendors` 1996-1998 revenues. Forecasts are segmented by region and operating environment. To view the complete table of contents for this report, please visit http://www.idc.comand search for 19095. To order a copy of the report, contact Cheryl Toffel at 1-800-343-4952, ext. 4389 or at ctoffel@idc.com.