AutoDesk has purchased most every potential competitor since they bought Generic CADD in the late 1980's. Except Sketchup. Google bought them just as they released professional tools. Then stopped development, cut features such as DXF import/export from the bottom tier and eventually spun off the dead hulk. In the interim, Autodesk created "TrueDWG" to spread FUD.
Anyway buying competitors has allowed Autodesk to shape the US AEC industry toward proprietary file formats such as Revit, while their low end product AutoCad Lite insures that small shops never automate and the construction design industry buys subscriptions in the hope that this year's features will actually effect the bottom line. They won't.
It's a great example of how to run a startup that creates a monopoly. They beat Adobe to the subscription model by more than a decade.
Not only CAD but media (film,video,3D). Years ago, there were quite a few 3D design programs around for film/video production e.g. Softimage, Alias, Wavefront, 3Ds Max etc. On the 2D side, Discreet Logic with Flame etc. Today, all owned by Autodesk.
I agree that those are products which to varying degrees compete with parts of AutoDesk's product line. To me, Desault Group and Siemens aren't really competing as companies with AutoDesk, their core business lies elsewhere, i.e. manufacturing, and their interest in design software seems more of a byproduct of their core interest...e.g. Siemens licenses its parametric modeling technology to other Cad vendors (e.g. Nemetschek).
On the other hand PTC is a similarly sized company with a similar strategy of acquisition. It predates Autodesk's acquisition strategy and appears to target a different set of customers...hence no webstore. I suppose the analogy I'd draw is that AutoDesk has products that dominate their market segments in the way PhotoShop dominates its segment. There are competitors for profitable corner cases (in PTC's case product life-cycle management solutions), but those aren't in the just whip out a credit card and wait for the UPS truck sweet spot.
As an aside, my comment mentioned AEC and that's a market that Autodesk has clearly shaped and dominated.
Huh? AutoDesk has so many competitors who are thriving. Every product it offers has a serious competing product (SolidWorks for AuotCad, Lightwave for Maya, etc). Just because it used a proprietary format doesn't mean its a monopoly. And subscriptions? They are ending perpetual licenses by next year - they are well behind Adobe here.
I've got iDraw (Now Autodesk Graphic) on OS X. It's okay - but I still long for something that can go head-head with Visio. Omnigraffle is sort of in that space - but at the end of the day, there is a reason why 99%+ of network diagrams are done in Visio - just seems to fit in better when you are trying to line up routers, draw connections between them and network segments.
I use this when I'm travelling because I've had so many issues with Illustrator requiring me to login, not even allowing me to do free trial option. I work in remote locations now and then and this becomes an issue.
It is fast and easy to use, would recommend if you're a Adobe Illustrator user looking to switch.
This may provide some insight for the Inkscape developers on how they can add accurate dimensions to their draw program. Autodesk understands dimensioning and precision. Most draw programs have poor or nonexistent tools for dealing with units and dimensions.
In what way? I use Inkscape on the regular and have never had any problems with dimensions or precision (although sometimes I do have to create and position a guide and use it to set certain things, like bezier curve control points)
SVG can represent vectors with units of "in", "mm", or "px". Inkscape only does "px", which means it's for drawing pretty pictures. There's no fundamental reason it couldn't support real units, but it doesn't.
Anyway buying competitors has allowed Autodesk to shape the US AEC industry toward proprietary file formats such as Revit, while their low end product AutoCad Lite insures that small shops never automate and the construction design industry buys subscriptions in the hope that this year's features will actually effect the bottom line. They won't.
It's a great example of how to run a startup that creates a monopoly. They beat Adobe to the subscription model by more than a decade.
The Autodesk File is an excellent look inside its early days: https://www.fourmilab.ch/autofile/www/autofile.html