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NORTH AMERICA: LARGE, AND GETTING LARGER
North America is already SAP’s single largest regional market. But it is also one of our most exciting growth markets. This market experienced notable improvement during the second half of 2003, as a gradually improving U.S. economy led to the first substantial increase in business expenditures in more than two years.
SAP earned an ever-larger share of the U.S. business software market in 2003 through aggressive sales of mySAP Business Suite, SAP Business One, and other solutions. In addition, consolidation in the business software industry left many U.S. companies wondering about the future of their existing technology investments and unsure where to turn for future investments. This may have caused some delays in customer purchasing decisions. However, as decision-makers in these companies looked for a stable, financially sound provider of top-quality business solutions, SAP became the logical choice. By year-end, through focused sales execution and dedication to our customers’ success, SAP increased its software licence revenues in the North American market by 23% over the previous year at constant currency.
INDIA: A GROWING SOURCE OF TALENT
India has become one of the world’s centers of technological development. Thanks to a talented, well-educated, English-speaking population and low-cost infrastructure, India is now the source of a wide range of technology-related services, from software programming to technical support.
SAP has steadily increased its presence in India and now employs more than 1,000 of the nation’s citizens in such key roles as software development, research, and customer support. Our favorable experience with Indian professionals led us to choose Bangalore as one of eight global locations for SAP Labs.
SAP is also increasing its revenues from sales to Indian companies of all sizes, from large corporations like GAIL, Nicholas Piramal, Voltas, John Keells, and Sundaram Clayton to emerging companies such as MTR Foods, Mathrubhoomi Printing, Suzlon Energy, and Mark Auto & Trent Limited.
CHINA: AN EMERGING GIANT
No major economy is growing faster than that of China, which expanded at an astonishing rate of 9.1% during 2003. This growth was shared by companies of all sizes, including huge manufacturing and services firms that have moved from nationalized ownership to privatization, as well as the small and midsize businesses that are emerging in every major region of China. Having built a strong presence in China for several years, SAP is now benefiting from the growth in all sectors of the nation’s economy.
In the large-company sector, for example, mySAP Business Suite was recently chosen by New China Life Insurance Company, which became SAP’s largest customer ever in the Chinese market.
In the small-company sector, SAP launched a special edition of SAP Business One in China, bringing our solution for common business functions to a large market with great growth potential. To further demonstrate our commitment to this market, SAP also donated SAP Business One to seven Chinese universities in order to help foster innovation and technical skills among students.
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