Installed Base
The installed base refers to the number of computers on
which a certain software program is installed. For example, the installed base
of the Microsoft Windows operating system consists of all computers on which
that operating system is installed.
The installed base is a good indicator of the market share
enjoyed by a company. Obviously, each company is interested in expanding their
installed base. This can lead to many benefits. Firstly, the company will
achieve a higher sales volume. Secondly, a larger installed base means that
there is a larger user community. This in turn means that there is more
incentive for third-party developer to offer value-added services.
It is often hard to estimate the size of the installed user
base of a product. Firstly, software vendors often don’t like to publicise
these figures. Secondly, corporate customers often purchase site licenses, so
it is difficult to tell exact installed base at such locations. Thirdly, there
may be a significant problem with illegal copies being installed, particularly
by home users. This makes any estimation of the installed base very difficult.
