The Swedish software market grew by approximately 15% in 1996 and 30% in 1997 due mainaly to the growth of the Internet and WWW penetration into business and private sectors.  In Sweden, the software market is approximately 57.1% of the total IT market, which was estimated to be $4.97 billion in 1995.  

The following table presents data for the Swedish software market as it pertains to the import, export, and production of software services from 1996 through 1998 in ($ million). 
 

Data  in USD Millions	1996	1997(e)	1998(e)
Total Market Size	1385	1580	1705
Total Local Production	750	820	890
Total Exports	85	90	95
Total Imports	720	850	910
U.S. Imports	585	620	670

 

Like other segments of IT in Sweden, the software market is characterized by the influence of the telecommunications industry, with Telia and Ericsson again being major players in developing the technology.  However, there is a growing segment of firms that concentrates on the opportunities made availble through advances in the Internet and WWW development. 

Spray Network ABB is typical of many growing software firms in Sweden.  The company is leveraging the growth of the Internet to expand its business outside of Sweden, where the global software market is ludicrous.  Their international clients include big technology firms such as; Canon, Netscape, and Microsoft.  Spray is also representative of a shift from the traditional Swedish know-how in the electronics and telecommunications equipment market into the new medium of the Internet. (Source: Inter@ctive Week). 

Software Needs 

The major U.S. packaged software suppliers are well represented in the Swedish software market creating opportunity for the integration and customization of COTS products. 

Sweden is also a huge market for Windows environments and the segment for Windows-based applications shows no diminishing. Multi-processor client-server solutions are still dominating on the network application market, but the need for additional software to support network architectures is also growing rapidly.  This will prove to be either an area of opportunity fro local development or more likely, an opportunity for foreign firms.