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Are there any market research figures available calculating aggregate investment (worldwide, by region, by country) in the Java platform? This could include software (application servers, IDEs, profiling tools), hardware (Sun servers, bytecode executing processors), personnel (training, books), language development (Java, Clojure, Scala, ..), public/private (universities, governments, corporations), etc.

I'm working on a presentation on JVM languages and would like to illustrate—in some reliable manner—that existing investment in the Java platform is massive and not going anywhere anytime soon (think Cobol). I'm sure this point is clear for IT guys, but I'd like to put a dollar figure on it for the business folks to really drive the point home.

Before the comments start, I recognize that this question is on the outer edge of what most of us consider to be "programming related". Regardless, knowing this information can help many IT department discussions around the future of a platform, and may even assist developers make career decisions.

+1  A: 

Oracle (previously Sun) would obviously be the first place to start. They'll be happy to evangelise the benefits of Java to you! In fact, that's how they see themselves:

Sun VP Rich Green has been quoted on countless occasions that Sun's ideal role with regards to Java is as an "evangelist." [O'Reilly Media, 2002]

I recommend asking them for those figures. If they exist, Oracle will have them.

Rushyo
I wrote to every Oracle contact I could find and not a single one replied.
rcampbell
Tried their phone numbers? Hard for them to ignore phone calls - and sales guys love 'em. You can also check out their global divisions: http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/contact/global-070511.html
Rushyo