CAD/CAM/3D/AEC Market Growth

In the CAD industry growth will continue to occur across those technical disciplines without full CAD penetration (architecture is just one example of less than 100% CAD penetration) as well as the CAD industry as a whole. One significant driver of 3D modeling development is the entertainment and gaming market which in itself is a new multi-billion dollar industry.

According to Jon Peddie Associates (JPA), a leading industry analyst and market research firm, the 3D content production market is a billion dollar industry. In 1998 JPA estimated there were 18 million 3D users and predicts that 3D users will grow to 79.3 million by 2003. A key and controversial finding of this 1998 report is that Windows NT will be replacing UNIX workstations at rates of 20 to 70 percent.

The shift in 1998 away from UNIX towards NT was largely based on the cost savings of PC desktop hardware compared to proprietary UNIX iron. In response to this, in 1999 and 2000 the UNIX market has shifted toward Linux, an open-source UNIX operating system that is easily deployable on a wide array of low and high cost PC and Macintosh hardware.

This movement bodes very well for Apple's UNIX-based Mac OS X which has an open-source UNIX core (Darwin) much like Linux. And like Linux, Mac OS X offers the advanced industrial strength capabilities of more costly UNIX systems combined with lost-cost and scalable Macintosh hardware. Unlike Linux, however, Apple's Mac OS X has the most advanced native graphics abilities of any operating system in the world and the second largest OS installed base worldwide with over 25 million active users.

CAD and 3D growth on the Macintosh will continue to rise as a result of industry growth alone. According to JPA- published report this past January, the 3D digital content market continues with rapid growth in the professional market as well as in the prosumer market. The market for professional 3D animation tools is estimated to grow to more than $704 million dollars by 2003, while even the Prosumer 3D market will reach $159 million by the end of that year as well.