The global computer-aided design (CAD) software market is predicted to reach a value of USD 18.7 billion by the year 2030, increasing from USD 9.3 billion in 2019, and progressing at 6.6 percent CAGR during the forecast period during this next decade.
Market Dynamics
The CAD industry has two fundamental categorizations based on dimensions and the basis of technology—the 2D CAD market and the 3D CAD market.
The 3D CAD category accounted for the majority of the share of the overall CAD market in 2019. 3D CAD is being widely adopted by a rising number of professionals in design fields, healthcare, aerospace and defense, and the automotive industries. According to this market report, the automotive sector is still in the overall process of adopting 3D CAD. 3D CAD software improves the acceleration of the deployment cycle of products because it can serve as the basis for simulations, optimization, and virtual testing.
In terms of industrial differentiation, the overall CAD industry in this report is divided into the following categories:
- arts
- media & entertainment (M&E)
- healthcare
- manufacturing
- aerospace & defense
- automotive
Geographically the CAD market is led by the United States, which is predicted to dominate the global CAD market through the forecast period. Asia-Pacific is predicted to be the fastest-growing region during the forecast period—offering market opportunities to software ISVs. Japan, China, and emerging markets like India are drivers in Asia-Pacific growth.
Trends
Further acquisitions by major players will be a major trend. The shift from perpetual licensing to subscription software licensing will be a key trend, as will the continued transition from 2D to 3D CAD. Key drivers include increasing use of CAD in the packaging industry, in addition to big growth in the automotive industry as the ICE to EV transition takes place over the next decade.
Restraints on the market include the availability of free or open-source CAD software. Software piracy continues to be a challenge in the CAD industry but licensing model technology can address this. Another restraint is the high cost of advanced and 3D software systems.
The CAD report identifies three major opportunities, including (1) growing adoption of SaaS-based models for CAD market supply, (2) surge in demand for mobile device use and access to 3D CAD applications and data, and (3) the rising popularity of cloud-based CAD services.
Companies mentioned in the report include seemingly everyone except the Nemetschek Group, suggesting that this report is ignoring the AEC and infrastructure markets. Although, Bentley and Siemens AG are both included, as is Hexagon AB.
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Architosh Analysis and Commentary
With the entire automotive industry going through a massive transformation from ICE technology to EV technology, and with incumbents losing market share to new entrants, the automotive industry is ripe for new customer growth. Other disruptors include cloud and mobile entrants who deploy innovative new technologies on those platforms and challenge incumbents on features whilst offering new capabilities intrinsic to those platforms.
This market appears to ignore the AEC industry and doesn’t include it in its categories.