Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) sells Computer Aided Design (CAD) software, which is used by engineers and architects to mock up designs for products and buildings. While Autodesk's competitors sell advanced software with a $10,000 price tag to niche audiences, Autodesks's "AutoCAD" sells for a relatively modest $4,000, making it the de facto standard with 85% market share. The software's price means AutoCAD is the only option for smaller firms - a market the company's competitors have only recently begun to target.

Autodesk's large customer base (at 85% market share more than 8 million AutoCAD users) is itself a competitive advantage. CAD software is technical and tricky to learn, and therefore switching costs are high. As the defacto standard, most new professionals who need to use CAD software learn AutoCAD. This represents an enormous advantage for ADSK, as competitors will find it difficult to break through this standard.

(Read more at Wikinvest )