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Yet, another PTC loss...

I don't get it. Solid works does not even have an auto-dimension function like intent manager. I think the perception is that Solidworks is cheaper when actually Pro/E is the same price with more funcitonality.



See http://www.design-engine.com/stories/battleofthebands.htm for my comparison.



Only recently did Solidworks gain top down design funtionality and o so painful to use. Their market plan is to simply target the general users ' bulk of the bell curve' and make it stupid simple to use. PTC on the other hand has always been the high end and can't ignore thier hi-end user base while making it simple to learn for the new users still. Part of the problem is those dorks on this list complaining about lost functionality in Wildfire.



Bart Brejcha http://www.proetools.com
 
Another part of the problem: people complaining that Wildfire is more complicated to learn than 2001. More functionality? Yes. More complicated? Absolutely not.
 
THAT'S IT! It's obviously the customers fault for complaining.



Now we know why PTC is the only major CAD vendor not showing a profit.



-Bernie-
 
IMHO, the number one reason PTC hasn't shown a profit in forever: Windchill. It's been dragging the company down like an anchor.
 
It's hard to determine the cost of developing the PDM software but Windshill is the only side of the business with growing revenue:



Total Windchill revenue in the fourth quarter was $45.7 million, up 10% sequentially. Windchill license revenue was $16.2 million, up 53% sequentially, with stronger sales across both Windchill Link solutions and foundation software. Windchill Link solutions license revenue grew 50% sequentially and represented 53% of overall Windchill license revenue.



Total design solutions revenue for the fourth quarter was $118.0 million, which was down 4% sequentially. Design solutions license revenue was $33.7 million, compared with $38.1 million in the third quarter.



=======================





Without the PDM side of the buisness PTC may have already folded up the tent!



-Bernie-
 
MCAD software revenues for Q1 of '04 were $29M. This

equates to a roll rate of less than $120M/year. This is

25-30% of their peak. There is no way that a software

company can survive without new software sales.



PTC's revenue has fallen for nine straight quarters.



Consider the following:



License revenue % vs. Maintenance revenue %:



Q1 2004: 27% vs 73%

Q4 2003: 30% vs 70%

Q3 2003: 29% vs 71%

Q2 2003: 32% vs 68%

Q1 2003: 29% vs 71%

Q4 2002: 35% vs 65%

Q3 2002: 30% vs 70%

Q2 2002: 30% vs 70%

Q1 2002: 32% vs 68%

Q4 2001: 38% vs 62%

Q3 2001: 37% vs 63%

Q2 2001: 43% vs 57%

Q1 2001: 43% vs 57%



Q4 1999: 54% vs 46%

Q3 1999: 50% vs 50%



This certainly appears to be saying that fewer and fewer

companies are buying Pro/E and simply maintaining what

they already have purchased.



Brad Hacker

ME CAD Admin

Zebra Technologies Corp.
 
IMHO, PTC is trying to support too many releases and still has a business model based on old technology. It took several years for the MCAD part to get going on Windows. People want to work in windows and they want their CAD software to look and feel like any other windows product. Their thought process must believe that it's easier to learn and therefore more productive. This is why SW and UG are kicking their butts in software sold.



BTW, well said Bernie, IT must be our fault for complaining...



Steve C
 
Bottom line something is wrong somewhere industrial or non industrial. Did you see what 300,000th License in $$$$$ its going to effect?
 
> 300.000 licenses of s/w 50% of them in non industrial

> environment.



Huh? What do you do with MCAD software in a non industrial environment? I guess I don't understand what industrial environment means. Is this saying that half the software went to shop floor or CAM applications (i.e. industrial) and half went to design engineering (non-industrial?). Surely they're not using SW to create pop art or do landscape architecture.



-Bernie-
 
PTC has to shape up or ship out. Customers hate them. They are putting their channel partners out of business. Data management strategy is ill defined. (intralink/pdmlink)



Im a reseller and I am concerned.. Hate to be a customer...





David Mauro

http://www.hawkeye-us.com/
 
> IMHO, PTC is trying to support too many releases



And why do they have to? Because their sales model has been to concentrate on large sales to a relatively small number of customers vs. SW and other low/mid range vendors. These big customers are less likely to change versions if signifcant retraining is involved and data is not interchangable.



To get these large customers to change there must be a significant improvement and commitment to consistency. We can argue the relative improvements but I think it's largely bias toward what I'd call high end functionallity that often isn't even available in the foundation package; or what ever they're calling it now.



Where PTC has really missed it is on the consistancy and vision for the future. That's why less than a quarter of the customer base is using WF and PTC is getting ever more behind the 8 ball as maintenance revenue from legacy customers is becoming their major source of revenue.



In contrast to when the company was founded the decisions are now made by non technical management that thinks high end CAD can be marketed just like word processing software. The emphasis on making it look and feel like other Windows programs isn't going to differentiate the product. The pricing structure and corporate culture won't alow them to dominate the SW market market.



-Bernie-
 
Huh? What do you do with MCAD software in a non industrial environment? I guess I don't understand what industrial environment means.



I think what is meant here by non-industrial is educational institutions. SW is placed in high schools, colleges, and universities to implant SW into the minds of the future workforce at an early stage. Out goes ProE and in comes SW.
 
Huh? What do you do with MCAD software in a non industrial environment? I guess I don't understand what industrial environment means.



Some people use it for quick viewing models, just like sketching but then with your mouse... I know from personal use that only half of the time I use Solid Works, it's for industrial purposes. The rest of the time I use it to make some presentation models or quick reverence models.



Wouter
 

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