Market Size for Desktop application in 2026 [Example]

The total available market (TAM) for desktop applications can be estimated by considering the global user base of personal computers and the average number of applications a user might use. According to industry reports, there are approximately 1.5 billion desktop users worldwide, and realistically, around 10% of these users spend on applications. This gives us a potential user base of approximately 150 million users. Assuming an average spend of $27 per user annually on desktop applications, the TAM results in about $4 billion.

The serviceable addressable market (SAM) narrows down to desktop applications that fit a specific niche, such as productivity or creative software. If we estimate that 20% of the TAM focuses on productivity applications like the one you are offering, then we can target around 30 million relevant users. Assuming that these users have a more focused spending behavior averaging around $50 per year on productivity applications, the SAM would be approximately $800 million.

The serviceable obtainable market (SOM) considers how many of the SAM you can realistically capture during your first year of operations. If we assume that with effective marketing strategies and a competitive product, you could capture about 5% of the SAM, we would calculate this as 5% of 16 million users, which gives us 800,000 potential customers. Multiplying this customer base by an average spend of $50 annually results in a SOM of approximately $40 million. This approach sets a realistic growth target for your initial business year.