The Changing Software Business: From Products To Services And Other New Business Models

Over the past several years, the software business has been undergoing dramatic changes, with important implications both for users as well as producers of software products and services. Perhaps the most significant change is the decline of traditional product sales or license fees and the shift in product company revenues to services. The top graph for each company represents product sales versus service and maintenance sales in absolute numbers; the bottom graph represents these revenue streams as percentages of total sales. The revenues of game software companies continue to be mainly from product sales, though online gaming service revenues are growing fast.