Despite the ease and convenience of downloading and installing software, the market for boxed software increased slightly last year, according the The NPD Group.
According to the market
research company's Retail Tracking Service, total consumer retail software sales (excluding games) increased 1% in 2010 to $2.42 billion. The growth comes after two years of 8% and 10% declines in
2008 and 2009.
Microsoft, which launched its Office 2010 suite last year, led publishers, accounting for more than one-third of all retail sales. Intuit, Apple, Adobe and Symantec followed, and
the five companies accounted for 78% of the total sales, according to NPD.