Kaernten
The World Competitiveness Yearbook, issued by the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland, ranks 46 countries that have been evaluated using 230 criteria, among them computer usage. The United States leads all of the following criteria:
| Country's World Ranking in Parentheses (1994 Figures) | Sweden | Germany | Austria | Italy |
| Computers in use (Share of worldwide computers in use, in %) | 0.79 (17) | 6.09 (3) | 0.43 (25) | 2.52 (7) |
| Numbers of computers per person | 0.182 (7) | 0.152 (13) | 0.109 (19) | 0.087 (22) |
| Computer power (Share of total worldwide MIPS, in %) | 0.76 (14) | 5.80 (3) | 0.41 (24) | 2.44 (7) |
| Computer power per capita (in MIPS per 1000 people) | 2160 (7) | 1783 (13) | 1284 (18) | 1048 (22) |
Application Software
The Austrian computer software market is characterized by some 300 suppliers. Most of these suppliers are small companies. The 40 largest suppliers are almost exclusively companies that have been in the EDP business for more than ten years. In Austria, there are only some 350 enterprises with over 500 employees which transact business with about 40% of the software suppliers. These figures demonstrate the importance of large enterprises for the development of a competitive domestic software industry. 35
About 80% of the Austrian software producers cooperate with (mostly foreign) hardware manufacturers. 60% of the applications are tied to a specific operating system, 35% to a specific computer category, and 25% to a specific hardware manufacturer. 36
Software firms with higher turnover typically have their customers in the banking, insurance, and financial services industry. Other important customers are within the public and health sectors. Both sectors are mostly covered by foreign software suppliers. The main opportunities for application software suppliers are in system engineering, applications consulting, office automation, education, export administration, CASE, CIM, and quality control. 37
Siemens/Nixdorf, IBM, and DEC are the major software and services vendors in Austria. The market's characteristics are similar to Germany's, but packaged application software and turnkey projects are more dominant. The software market has become increasingly competitive as hardware manufacturers invested heavily in software development and distribution to improve their competitive position. The mainframe software market is dominated by IBM, but there is a niche market for software houses that produce specialized software medical, government, and technical application. The most popular PC software packages are used for general business administration, operating systems, DBMS, communication, word processing, spreadsheets, and graphics. Minicomputer companies such as IBM, HP, Sun Microsystems, Unisys, and AT&T also develop their own software, sometimes in cooperation with Austrian software houses. 38
For many years, IBM set the standards for competitors in the Austrian software market. The development of IBM software is entirely in German language, thus, it became a necessity for competitors to provide software in the German language. Besides German, the market also demands software that is inexpensive, easy-to-use, well presented, and application-oriented. 39
Austria spends less on hardware and software than most OECD countries. It is also one of the main importers of software. The Austrian application software market was estimated at $490m in 1994, with a 10% annual growth rate. The U.S. market share in Austria's application software business was 15% in 1993. the PC software market was dominated by U.S. companies (market share approximately 60%), such as IBM, Microsoft, Lotus, WordPerfect, etc. 40 Austrian firms' market share in microcomputer application software is 20% . 41 The largest Austrian firms are EDV GmbH, Management Data, Data service, BEKO, AI-Informatics, and Han-Dataport. All companies have less than 500 employees.
| 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | |
| Application software | $ 396 m | $ 430 m | $ 490 m |
| PC application software | $ 152 m | $ 190 m | $ 220 m |
Hardware suppliers
The major hardware suppliers are IBM, DEC, and Siemens/Nixdorf. Computer suppliers are targeting small and medium-sized companies to penetrate the market with office automation equipment. the increase in hardware units sold was mainly due to a growth in acceptance of computers as a working tool at all levels of the Austrian workforce. 42
The United States is the main source of imports for PC equipment (Apple, Compaq, HP, AT&T). Other important suppliers are Germany (Siemens), the UK (Commodore), and Taiwan. Distribution has significantly shifted to retailers. Austrian chains such as Niedermeyer dominate the market. In recent years, large German retailers and department stores have become major competitors. important home-user products are the French ESCOM and the German VOBIS which sells Far East clones in the Viennese market. 43
Sales in computers and peripherals stagnated in value due to significant price decreases. PC growth rates were at 20% during recent years. The sale of laptops and notebook computers also boomed during the 1990s. 44
Major players in Austria's computer sector
Austria's Software-Top-20
*) in Million ATS, 1993 ($1 = ATS 10)
| Company | Total Sales*) | Software Sales*) |
| PSE-SIEMENS | 2885 | 2885 |
| IBM ÷sterreich | 7700 | 1500 |
| DIGITAL EQUIPMENT | 2700 | 488,5 |
| COMPUTER 2000 | 1270 | 382 |
| MICROSOFT | 360 | 340 |
| AI INFORMATICS | 287 | 255 |
| MANAGEMENT DATA | 884,5 | 248 |
| DATASERVICE | 217,3 | 217,3 |
| EDV GesmbH | 738 | 210 |
| ALCATEL AUSTRIA | 4200 | 200 |
| COMPUTER ASSOCIATES | 200 | 200 |
| ORACLE Datenbanksystem | 350 | 200 |
| SAP | 288 | 180 |
| BEKO | 380 | 180 |
| EXTERNA | 802 | 182 |
| SERVO DATA | 182 | 128 |
| ATS Datenverarbeitung | 182 | 121 |
| GENESIS | 112 | 112 |
| SIS Datenverarbeitung | 185 | 80 |
| HAN DATAPORT | 180 | 88 |
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