Abstract:Overall, there is still a gap between the scale of the CAD software market in China and developed countries such as Europe and the United States. The degree of industrial informatization in mainland China is lower than that of developed countries in Europe and the United States, but with the rapid development of industrial informatization in mainland China, users' demand for CAD software has emerged, and the growth rate of the mainland CAD software market is therefore higher than that of the global market, and it continues to maintain a high growth trend. According to statistics, as of 2022, the market size of the mainland CAD software industry will be 4.86 billion yuan, and the growth rate will slow down compared with 2021.
1. Definitions and Classification
CAD (Computer Aided Design) is the abbreviation of computer-aided design, which is an important technology in the development and application of computer science technology. The so-called CAD technology refers to a computer application technology that uses fast numerical calculation and powerful graphic processing functions of computers to assist engineers, designers, architects and other engineering and technical personnel in product design, engineering drawing and data management, such as making models, calculations, drawings, etc. At present, CAD technology has been widely used in machinery, electronics, aerospace, chemical and construction industries.
Depending on the type of software, CAD can be divided into 2D CAD and 3D CAD. 2D CAD software mainly provides two-dimensional view drawing, focusing more on the detailed expression of drawings, and is widely used in construction drawing design of engineering construction and two-dimensional design of manufacturing industry;
Second, industry policies
In recent years, focusing on the goal of building a manufacturing power and a network power, the mainland has issued and implemented a number of laws, regulations and industrial policies to promote the rapid development of the industrial software industry. The great attention and strong support of the state will help enhance the confidence of industrial software enterprises, protect the rights and interests of industrial software enterprises, promote the systematic development and industrial application of independent industrial software, and help the CAD software industry achieve its strategic goals. In June 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other five departments issued the "Implementation Opinions on Improving the Reliability of the Manufacturing Industry", proposing to focus on machinery, electronics, automobiles and other industries, implement the "foundation" project of basic product reliability, and build a solid reliability level of core basic components, core basic components, key basic software, key basic materials and advanced basic processes. In December 2023, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) issued the "Guiding Catalogue for Industrial Structure Adjustment (2024 Edition)", which listed "basic software and industrial software: software development and production (including the research and promotion and application of national language informatization standards), digital system (software) development and application, including manufacturing execution system (MES), computer-aided design (CAD), auxiliary engineering (CAE), etc.".
Third, the development process
Although the high-end industrial software market in the field of large-scale and complex manufacturing and construction in mainland China is still occupied by well-known foreign enterprises, with the continuous improvement of the technical level of domestic industrial software enterprises, the relative technological advantage of foreign enterprises has gradually weakened. Domestic enterprises have gradually won the favor of domestic enterprise customers by virtue of their in-depth understanding of localized customer needs, rapid response, and cost advantages brought by engineer dividends. From the perspective of the development process of mainland CAD software, mainland CAD software has gone through four stages of development: from 1960 to 1990, different from the rapid commercialization of international CAD, mainland CAD research and development has long been concentrated in the theoretical stage. From 1990 to 2000, the birth of domestic design software was concentrated in the nineties of the last century. From 2000 to 2010, at this stage, major design manufacturers began to expand their product markets. Since 2010, the policy has guided the domestic substitution and legalization of industrial software, driving the rapid development of the CAD industry.
Fourth, industry barriers
1. Technical barriers
CAD software belongs to the field of industrial software, involving computer science, software engineering, graphic geometry, engineering manufacturing and other multidisciplinary knowledge, is a large number of industrial design experience and software technology after continuous accumulation, highly condensed, through algorithms, code solidification, through repeated trial verification, long-term research and development iteration. As an important part of R&D and design industrial software, CAD software belongs to large-scale application software, complex structure, many functions, high requirements for software framework design, requires developers to have rich experience in large-scale software development, at the same time, CAD software involves a large number of key technology research and development, such as display engine, graphics algorithm, data processing, collaborative design, etc., including computer hardware technology, mathematical algorithms, Internet technology, software programming technology, etc., which requires the support of a relatively comprehensive and huge R&D team. Therefore, in general, the technical threshold of CAD software is relatively high, and it is difficult for new entrants to develop CAD software with fast running speed, complete functions, strong reliability, high scalability and differentiated competitive advantages in a short period of time.
2. Product barriers
CAD software has been developed in the world for decades, and at present, foreign industrial software giants occupy a dominant position in the market competition pattern, and the file format, menu, user interface, and operation habits of CAD software of these industrial software giants have become the de facto standard, forming a strong user stickiness. On the other hand, a mature CAD software needs to go through the continuous feedback of product needs in the process of long-term use by large-scale users, and can form a strong product competitiveness through decades of continuous iterative improvement, which further strengthens the product barriers.
3. Ecological barriers
In order to improve design efficiency, CAD software not only needs to meet the general needs of various industries, but also needs to provide professional functions for various subdivisions to meet individual needs. CAD software not only needs to open a complete and reliable secondary development interface to ecological partners, but also needs to create an ecological environment that can develop together with ecological partners to meet the diverse needs of users, and the industry ecological construction process is long and complex, forming a high ecological barrier to new entrants in the CAD software industry.
4. Talent barriers
The application field of CAD software is very wide, and the R&D and product application are more complex and comprehensive, and the requirements for talents are also more demanding. Industrial software R&D personnel should not only be proficient in software development and other information technology, but also have a deep understanding of the principles and processes of industrial design and manufacturing. A high-level, professional, and outstanding talent team with outstanding scientific research and innovation capabilities is the key to enterprises facing fierce market competition. In fact, due to the relative lack of attention to basic software for a long time, the training of compound talents is difficult, the industry accumulation cycle is long, and the success rate is low, which leads to the scarcity of high-quality compound talents and forms a high talent barrier in the CAD software industry.
5. Market barriers
In order to better improve work efficiency, CAD software customers usually choose reliable software suppliers based on product quality, brand reputation, service level, etc. On the one hand, the leading enterprises in the CAD software industry have a certain brand influence, occupy a large market scale, and have a long-term and stable customer base. On the other hand, early entrants have a deep understanding and experience accumulation of customers' needs and habits in the long-term cooperation, and can continue to provide customers with characteristic technical support services in the process of continuous iteration and upgrading, which further improves customer satisfaction and dependence. For new entrants in the industry, there are few developable customer resources, it is difficult to gain customer trust, and the timely response speed is slow, making it difficult to form a closed loop from customer demand feedback to product iteration and update. Therefore, there are certain market barriers in the CAD software industry.
Fifth, the industrial chain
1. Analysis of the industry chain
The upstream of the CAD software industry is mainly the technical service industry, the business promotion service industry, other software development industries, and the computer and other hardware equipment industries. Among them, the hardware equipment industry mainly provides office equipment for CAD manufacturers, the technical service industry mainly provides technical authorization for CAD manufacturers to purchase functional modules, the business promotion service industry mainly provides online and offline marketing and promotion services for CAD manufacturers, and other software development industries mainly undertake the commissioned development of auxiliary functional modules of CAD manufacturers. The competition in these upstream industries is relatively sufficient, the prices are relatively stable, and the impact on the operation of CAD manufacturers is small.
From the perspective of the position of the industrial chain in which CAD products are located, the downstream customers of 2D CAD software are mainly customers in the education industry such as industrial manufacturing, construction and schools, and the customer groups faced by domestic and foreign manufacturers are highly overlapping and in a state of full competition; At present, the downstream application industry is showing a growth trend, and computer-aided design software covers a wide range of industries, so the CAD software industry will face vigorous demand from the downstream in the future.
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