Assessing the Relationship between the User-Based Market Share and Unit Sales-Based Market Share and Unit Software Brands in Competitive Markets

摘要

Thsi article argues that in a competitive software market, in the presence of differential piracy and brand switching among the various brands within a software product category (e. g., spreadsheets), there may be no relationship between market estimates based on unit sales and the user base of a software brand (e. g. , Lotus 1-2-3). Hence, marketing strategies developed for the software brand based on unit sales-based market share may be misleading.