The 100 largest European software companies

Venture capital company Truffle Capital this week presented its third Truffle 100 list of the 100 largest European software companies in Brussels. As in previous years, the list, which is based on software-related income in 2007, was headed by SAP, Dassault and Sage.

Software AG, based in Darmstadt in Germany, moved up one position to 4th. Software AG is one of the very first software houses – it started trading in 1969 – and it has profited from the demise of French business intelligence software specialist Business Objects, which was taken over last year by SAP. As a result, Walldorf-based SAP increased its share of the Truffle 100’s total software-related turnover by six per cent to 42 per cent.

The leading three suppliers together make up more than half the market volume. The top 25 make up around 80 per cent. These figures confirm the trend towards consolidation in the European software industry, especially given that comparable figures for the previous year’s Truffle 100 were significantly lower.

The list, which includes data from the 25 EU member states, Switzerland and Norway, is considered a barometer of the European software industry. An increase in 10.3 per cent with a cumulative turnover of 24.4 billion euros at first sight suggests an industry in rude health, especially as income in 2006 increased by 6.6 per cent. However, two years ago the picture of the industry was shaped by the acquisition of European software companies by American suppliers, which at the time depressed the European growth rate.

The growth rate recorded for 2007 should also not be allowed to obscure the true market picture. Microsoft, with a turnover of €33.4Bn in 2007, still leaves the vanguard of the European Truffle 100 well behind.

(Achim Born)

(lghp)