Architosh Staff ([email protected])

22 Feb 2002

 

Special Report: Architosh on track for 5000 petitions for Autocad on Mac OS X

Data suggest a $50+ million revenue opportunity exist for Autocad maker Autodesk if it supports the Mac OS X market.

Architosh has now gathered over 3500 petitions for the development of Autocad for Mac OS X and is steadily increasing that number by new petition entries towards an initial goal target of 5000 petition forms. Additionally, in light of feedback from those forms and in subsequent follow-up surveys, the average seat count (number of software licenses requested) is coming in toward a preliminary number of approximately three (3) licenses per petition. At an average of $3000 US per full seat of Autocad the approximate amount of revenue opportunity is approximately $45 million. When one factors in training, training materials and support that number is easily over $50 million.

$50 Million Dollars Far Exceeds Cost of Porting Autocad to the Mac

In the early 1990's both Apple and Autocad worked together to port Autocad to the Macintosh operating system in the pre-PowerPC chip days. The result of that effort was a product that many CAD professionals felt allowed them to embrace the Macintosh operating system, a favorite especially among architects and other design-concious technical professionals for its clear advantages in graphics and ease of use.

Autocad versions 11 - 12 were the primary and last Macintosh versions of Autocad on the Mac, as both Apple and Autocad decided against porting the code to PowerPC. Many thousands of Mac professionals continued to use the Mac version for years to come, but most were forced to either move to Intel-based systems and maintain Autocad or move to a different Macintosh-based CAD program. To this very day Architosh receives email from Mac professionals using older versions of Autocad on the Mac. All of them hope that an new OS X version is in the works.

The cost of originally porting Autocad to the Mac platform was reportedly $7 million during the early 90's. While nobody doubts that today's same cost would be much higher, it clearly seems that based on these numbers -- which are no doubt quite conservative based on the nature of this survey and who knows about it -- there is a profit opportunity in the making here.

Key Questions for Everyone

There are a number of key questions for everyone involved in the CAD industry, not the least of which pertain to the estimated seat count totals for Autocad for Mac OS X and what the demographics of that Autocad for Mac OS X audience is. The biggest question of all is, will Apple and Autodesk work together again to make Autocad for Mac OS X happen?

Since the early days of this petition, folks have been asking us that very question. And while we have had discussions with Apple representatives in various departments at Apple, we have yet to have a discussion of any kind with a high-level executive from Apple Computer regarding Autocad. And it isn't because Apple doesn't know about this petition and its results. They do.

Signs of Progress

On the Autodesk front our communications with the company have been very minimal since the survey's inception, choosing to reach particular target numbers (5000) before attempting high-level communications. However, recently Architosh was contacted by a high-level manager from Autodesk about our Autocad for Mac OS X petition and its results.

During this communication we relayed our hope that the firm would seriously consider porting Autocad to the Macintosh OS X platform, as the results of the survey overwhelmingly support the project's success from both Autodesk and Apple's perspective. However, we asked that this Autodesk manager wait for upcoming announcements (which are the subject of this report) and that they contact us at a later date for obtaining the results of this survey.

Apparently Autodesk has been monitoring the Architosh site for well over a year and following our news of the Autocad for Mac OS X survey. We take this as a serious sign that the company is not only watching the Mac CAD market but taking some sort of interest in the Mac OS X platform. At the time of this contact (a month or so ago approximately) this Autodesk manager would not comment on the status of any Autocad for Mac OS X product plans.

It remains to be seen if the company has made any kind of decision any way. However, it is now crystal clear that the Autocad for Mac OS X petition has grabbed the company's attention.

Related Articles

Special Report: Autocad for Mac OS X - Petition Milestone Achieved

Special Report: $50 million revenue opportunity for Autocad on Mac OS X

Architosh to Publish 'Autocad for Mac OS X Petition' Report

Architosh Marketplace

MacroEnter. is a CAD/AEC/Design, networking and large format printing solutions integrator, serving business, government and education customers. Reseller of VectorWorks, Microspot, HP and Encad product lines.

CAD Garage. is an online store dedicated to Architects, Engineers, Builders, Designers and Mac enthusiasts featuring ArchiCAD, formZ, Piranesi, Cinema 4D, HP and more product lines.

Lim Consultants, Inc. provides creative architects with practical solutions while incorporating cutting edge technology, pushing the art of structural engineering to new levels of excellence.

Place your text ad here and reach thousands of professionals each month for very affordable prices. (contact: [email protected])