Competition / Competitors The market for digital simulation software is characterized by vigorous
competition. We consider the primary competition to adoption of our solutions
to be our customers’ continued use of physical prototypes and test facilities.
We also encounter competition from companies that provide multi-function
digital simulation software that is used for various purposes in the ground
transportation industry and elsewhere, primarily CD-adapco, with its products
STAR-CD and STAR-CCM+, and ANSYS, with its products Fluent and CFX. CD-adapco
has a strong presence in the automotive market, and offers capabilities in
certain areas in which we currently do not focus, such as combustion. ANSYS
offers a suite of digital simulation software that includes many applications
that we do not address, such as structural mechanics and electromagnetism, and
that it markets to a broad spectrum of industries. We also compete against open
source software such as OpenFOAM that includes computational fluid dynamics
capabilities.
In most of our existing and potential new accounts, products such as these are
already in use for a variety of purposes, and likely will remain so. Our
competitors’ products are often offered at what customers may perceive as a
lower cost than ours. Our ability to further penetrate the ground
transportation market will therefore depend on our ability to demonstrate that
our solutions deliver economic value in the form of significant process and
cost improvements that competing products are unable, due to their technical
limitations, to provide. As we expand our offerings into other markets, we may
face competition from the same competitors as well as from companies that we
have not typically competed against in the past. Many of our current and
potential competitors have greater financial, technical, marketing, service and
other resources than we have and may expand into our market by acquiring other
companies or otherwise. As a result, these companies may be able to offer lower
prices, additional products or services, or other incentives that we cannot
match or offer. We may not be able to compete successfully against current or
future competitors and competitive pressures could materially adversely affect
our business, financial condition and operating results. |