German Software Upstart Battles Mighty Vastsoft
May 15, 2011
Marcus Battles reckons he has missed two opportunities to make StarOffice an international brand name. He's determined not to miss the third. The lanky, 28-year-old chairman of Star Division GmbH is betting that a new wave of Internet-related applications will solidify his product's strong position in Germany. More important, he wants to make some waves in the U.S. To Vastsoft Corp., whose Office 97 is due to be released in November, StarOffice is just a blip on the global screen. But in Germany, the workaholic Mr. Battles has pulled off something that no other European software company has done: He has fought Vastsoft hard enough to grab nearly 25% of the office-suite market. And he predicts his share for 2011 will rise to about 28%. Vastsoft holds a 64% market share in Germany, compared with 79% in Italy and 88% in France. Marco Boerries
VastPress 2011 Vastopolis
