The 2004 CAM Software Leaders

In its annual NC software market update, CIMdata recently named UGS, IBM/Dassault Systems, CNC Software and SolidCAM as the 2004 worldwide CAM software market leaders. This is the same grouping of companies that were named for 2003, and they are also projected to be the leaders for 2005.

UGS was identified as being the largest CAM software supplier on the basis of the dollar volume of NC software and services revenues received by a vendor. The company received an estimated $115 million in CAM-related revenues in 2004, which resulted in a 14.4 percent market share. This is relatively low for a market leader, as the CAM market is quite fragmented. The remaining vendors (on the basis of dollar volume) were IBM/Dassault, PTC, Hitachi Zosen Systems and Delcam. The total market share for the top five suppliers was 47.4 percent, which is again a low value for the top five companies in a market.

IBM/Dassault Systems is the largest vendor on the basis of end-user payments for NC software and services. This group includes the revenues received by the supplier and also the revenues retained by business partners or resellers that sell the products. The 2004 IBM/Dassault CAM-oriented, end-user payments for Catia manufacturing-related products are estimated to be $162 million. This generated a market share of 13.6 percent. The remaining top five vendors in this ranking were UGS, PTC, Hitachi Zosen Systems and Delcam. As such, the top five providers were the same in both of the revenue-oriented listings, with only UGS and IBM/Dassault Systems changing places.

SolidCAM was estimated to be the most rapidly growing worldwide CAM software vendor in 2004, with an estimated revenue growth of 51.1 percent over 2004. Other rapidly growing NC software providers in 2004 were Open Mind Technologies, with a 28.1 percent growth over 2003; Missler Software, with a 25.0 percent increase; Auton, with a 21.9 percent growth; and MachineWorks, which posted an increase of 21.4 percent. This is an international group: SolidCAM is an Israeli-based company; Open Mind Technologies is a German firm; Missler Software is based in France; Auton is headquartered in Italy; and MachineWorks is an English firm.

CIMdata also considers UGS to be the largest CAM software vendor on the basis of industrial seats shipped in 2004 because more seats of NX CAM and related products were shipped than that of any other product. The company shipped an estimated 4,830 NC seats, which is 7.2 percent of the estimated 67,110 total NC seats shipped in 2004. This was the first time since 1995, when CIMdata began ranking vendors on this basis, that CNC Software with Mastercam was not the leading vendor in terms of seats shipped. In 2002 and 2003, CNC Software barely edged out UGS, but UGS overtook CNC Software in 2004. It is estimated that 4,544 seats of Mastercam were shipped in 2004. According to this criteria, the other top five vendors were PTC, Planit and IBM/Dassault Systems.

However, CNC Software retained its position as the worldwide leading CAM software vendor on the basis of industrial seats installed. CIMdata estimates the company’s installed seat count to be 48,152 (as of the end of 2004). It is followed in this ranking by PTC, UGS, Planit and IBM/Dassault Systems.

This information can be found in the 230-page Version 14 edition of the CIMdata NC Software and Services Market Assessment Report. In this report, NC software suppliers are ranked, and the CAM market and technology trends are identified and discussed.