The Software Publishers Association said today that sales of PC application software in the United States and Canada hit $2.2 billion in the third quarter of this year. That's 48 percent higher than the $1.5 billion figure reported for the same period in 1994.
Microsoft Windows applications were the big engine driving sales upward, posting an 89 percent increase over last year's third quarter, with $1.86 billion sold.
Macintosh software did not fare so well, with sales down to $243 million--a 26 percent decrease from 1994's third quarter.
SPA reports that entertainment software, up 73 percent, showed the highest growth for year-to-date in the consumer category, and Windows system utilities were the big winners in business software, up 441 percent from the third quarter of 1994.