GrabCAD releases surprising MCAD user data

The Estonian start-up celebrates its first 100,000 downloads by giving us a peek into its user base. Solid Edge is second only to SolidWorks as the MCAD of choice.

Estonian start-up GrabCAD, busy building a services marketplace to connect engineers with product development companies, recently passed 100,000 downloads of user-provided product models. To celebrate, the company created an infographic which provides interesting insights on its users.

The graphic, shown below, is by no stretch of the imagination a scientific survey of CAD users, but does contain insights and a few surprises. SolidWorks, for example, was used to create 51% of available models. But second is Solid Edge, the solid modeler from Siemens PLM. The most popular models downloaded are an iPhone 4, a full-suspension bicycle frame, and a model of the outer shell of a full-face helmet.