Software industry

2006-11-29T11:07:24Z

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[[Image:Packagedsoftwareatretail.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Starting in the 1980s, application software has been sold in mass-produced packages through retailers]]

'''Software industry''' is a term used to describe the group of businesses involved in the [[software development|development]] and maintenance of [[computer software]]. The software industry started in the mid-1970s at the time of the personal computer revolution. The industry also includes software [[service]]s, such as training and consultancy.

There are mainly two types of businesses in the software industry; those developing [[proprietary]] software such as [[Microsoft]], and those developing [[open source]] software. Developing proprietary software is costly and involves software licensing and the need to protect the software from [[cracking]] and [[piracy]].

The main return on open source comes from selling services, such as training and support, rather than the software itself. Despite doing much business in properietary software, some companies like [[Sun Microsystems]] and [[IBM]] participate in developing free and open source software to deter from [[monopoly|monopolies]] and take a portion of their [[market share]]. [[Netscape]]'s actions are an example of this, and thus [[Firefox]] has become a more popular.

The largest and most profitable of software companies are located in the [[United States]]. As of 2006, the software industry is dominated by [[Microsoft]].

This table, derived from the Software Magazine 500 for 2005 [http://www.softwaremag.com/SW500/index.cfm?StartRow=1&RowsPer=50&BusCat_Search=&PrimBus_Search=&PrimBusCat_Search=&RankSort=ASC&CompSort=&trk=n&id=5] shows the total amount of revenue brought by software and software services companies, per locale.

{| class="wikitable"
!Location
!Total Revenue<BR>Millions of [[United States dollar|US$]]
<TR><TD>CA</TD><TD>111836.8</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>NY</TD><TD>101485.1</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>TX</TD><TD>40606.1</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>WA</TD><TD>34744.5</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>MA</TD><TD>19524.9</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>PA</TD><TD>18470.0</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>NJ</TD><TD>9141.3</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>MD</TD><TD>8564.9</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>MO</TD><TD>5486.0</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>WI</TD><TD>3729.7</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>VA</TD><TD>3553.3</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>NC</TD><TD>3497.9</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>IL</TD><TD>3490.2</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>OH</TD><TD>3404.1</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>FL</TD><TD>3350.4</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>GA</TD><TD>2835.0</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>CO</TD><TD>2522.9</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>MN</TD><TD>1483.3</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>MI</TD><TD>1305.7</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>AR</TD><TD>1225.9</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>OR</TD><TD>716.8</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>Japan</TD><TD>603.7</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>AL</TD><TD>573.3</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>England</TD><TD>550.3</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>VT</TD><TD>520.7</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>Canada</TD><TD>498.7</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>AZ</TD><TD>388.6</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>NH</TD><TD>296.6</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>NE</TD><TD>292.8</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>UT</TD><TD>247.6</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>SC</TD><TD>201.5</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>CT</TD><TD>102.4</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>MT</TD><TD>61.8</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>IN</TD><TD>55.1</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>IA</TD><TD>51.1</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>ID</TD><TD>47.3</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>KY</TD><TD>43.7</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>NV</TD><TD>23.1</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>BC</TD><TD>15.8</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>OK</TD><TD>10.4</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>NB</TD><TD>7.8</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>KS</TD><TD>7.6</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>Germany</TD><TD>4.4</TD></TR>
<TR><TD>ND</TD><TD>2.1</TD></TR>
|}

==See also==
*[[Personal Computer]]
*[[Software]]
*[[Software development]]
*[[Software engineering]]
*[[Software engineering economics]]

==External links==
* [http://www.siprofessionals.org/ Software Industry Professionals website]
* [http://www.siia.net/ Software and Information Industry Association website]
* [http://www.softwaremag.com/ Software Magazine website]
* [http://www.conextechno.com/ Sofware Animations India]
[[Category:Industries]]
[[Category:Business]]
[[Category:Information technology]]

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Software industry