Corel Corp anticipates between US$20 million and US$30 million in revenue this year from CorelDraw software in the Asia-Pacific region, after the Canadian firm launched its latest graphics design software yesterday in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Japan.
Of this region, Taiwan accounts for roughly 10 percent of market share, while Japan tops the list and China is second in terms of sales rankings, the company said at a launch ceremony.
Corel is a computer software developer better known for its application software like WinZip, WinDVD, and Paint Shop Pro in the art and design fields.
“With the Taiwan office opening a year ago, this is the first time Corel has had an official presence in Taiwan to help market and service Taiwan customers. We believe in the Taiwan market and we are digging in here,” Juliet Kuo (郭瓊奜), senior director at Corel Taiwan Corp, told reporters yesterday in Taipei.
CorelDraw’s main Taiwanese customers are design professionals including SOHO (small office and home office) groups, advertising agencies, print and publishing companies and various individual graphic designers, John Falsetto, product manager at Corel headquarters, said from Hong Kong in a video conference.
CorelDraw Graphics Suite X4 is Corel’s 14th generation graphics design software. This software was launched earlier in the year in North America and Europe and it currently comes in 18 languages worldwide.
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“What’s unique about CorelDraw is that through each generation, the company adopts feedback from customers to better improve the product. This is a user-friendly software with no prior training required, which sets it apart from Photoshop and other illustration software,” said Cathie Chen (凱西), a famed Taiwan illustrator known for her caricature drawings and her series of animated character products.
No2Good (不二良), a Taiwanese designer affiliated with local rock band MayDay (五月天) and an avid user, also shared his experience using CorelDraw to design a series of concert gift products for the rock band.
Kuo hopes through a series of collaborations with local artists as well as direct marketing to help CorelDraw software gain momentum and transform Taiwan’s arts and design industries.
Corel, headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, was at one time the largest software company in Canada.
It made a strategic error by acquiring WordPerfect software in 1996, which was not able to compete with Microsoft Word.
Since then Corel has focused on producing a series of design software. Its original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partners include Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), Dell Inc, Hewlett Packard Co, Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) and Sony Corp.
In 2005 and 2006, Corel acquired Fremont, California-based Intervideo Inc, a software publisher specializing in multimedia related programs, and Ulead Systems (友立資訊), a Taiwanese computer software developer.
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