SAP Predicts 10% Software Sales Growth Amid '04 Upturn
SAP预测2004年软件销售额增长10%
Tuesday March 2, 2:26 pm ET

(中文大意)德国SAP软件公司3月2日表示，其2004年的销售额正在增长，推动因素主要是企业不仅没有降低成本反而增加了投资，这反映出IT支出的趋势正在见好。首席执行官赫宁-卡吉曼(Henning Kagermann)表示：“公司的运营前景更好了。”

　　作为全球最大的商务软件制造商，SAP预测2004年软件销售额将增长10%，但用户却希望能够“用更低的价格买到更好的产品”，这使得SAP在面市新产品时需要投入更多的精力来促销。

FRANKUFURT -(Dow Jones)- SAP AG's 2004 sales are increasingly driven by companies investing in growth rather than cutting costs, the company said Tuesday, reflecting a shift in IT spending.

"The outlook is better," chief executive Henning Kagermann told analysts in London Tuesday. The world's largest maker of business software predicts a rise in software sales of 10% in 2004, but customers want "more for less," making it difficult for SAP to ask "more for more," when they sell new products.

Germany's SAP, which has 59% market share in business software (when compared to large rivals Oracle Corp. (NasdaqNM:ORCL - News) PeopleSoft Inc. (NasdaqNM:PSFT - News) and Siebel Systems Inc.), said customers are increasingly asking them "how software can help them grow their business," reflecting an upturn in software spending.

To adapt to the new cost-conscious environment, SAP will continue its shift toward selling many bite-size chunks of software rather than relying on huge deals for entire suites, SAP Chief Financial Officer Werner Brandt said.

"The biggest challenge is to move the sales force from selling big ticket to selling volume," Brandt said in a presentation to investors.

SAP will hire new sales staff and partner with more software resellers to increase the Walldorf-based software maker's ability to push its BusinessOne software to mid-size companies, SAP said. Mid-size deals have an average size of around EUR130 million in Europe, US$200 million in the U.S., and EUR110 million in Japan, SAP said.

To continue sales growth, SAP has bet on bolt-on software known as NetWeaver, designed to add value to existing software investments. Because it's interoperable with most industry standards, SAP customers can use NetWeaver as well as other databases, applications, operating systems, and hardware platforms from most vendors including rival Oracle, SAP said.

"Clients no longer want to be locked in by one particular vendor," Kagermann said.

As well as offering standard products to handle back office, accounting, human resources, production, sales and service solutions, SAP has developed specific software for 23 industries, including aerospace, automotive, chemicals, consumer products and utilities.

SAP's 2004 prospects are good because its product pipeline is much better than last year said Leo Apotheker, President, Global Field Operations, and Member of the Executive Board, SAP AG. "All products will be shipped on the integration platform SAP NetWeaver," Apotheker said Tuesday.