May 21, 2013
Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) develops financial software targeted at individuals and small businesses. Over 80% of its revenue comes from its three main products: TurboTax, a tax preparation software available in both online and in stores,Quicken, a personal finance tool, and Quickbooks, a small business accounting software. TurboTax and Quickbooks dominate their respective fields, with TurboTax owning 79% of the retail tax preparation software market, and Quickbooks holding 89% of the small business accounting software market.[1] The company earned $3.18 billion in revenue and $447 million in net income in 2009.[2]
Intuit's strategy has been to focus on customer satisfaction and simplifying the user experience. Despite the strong performance of its two major products, the company spends 80% of its R&D budget on the continued development of Quickbooks and TurboTax. The company has also positioned itself to be a major player in the growing online market, with TurboTax and Quickbooks both offering online editions. The recent acquisition of Digital Insight (a provider of online banking services) and pending launch of FinanceWorks plays into this strategy as well. However, the online market for tax preparation has become more competitive than the retail one, and recent server problems have damaged TurboTax's credibility, a concern for a company focused on user experience. To maintain growth, the company will have to continue satisfying current customers with new product cycles and add-in services, as well as fend off low-cost competition online.
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