Worldwide
security software revenue grew by 20% last year, according to
analyst Gartner.
The analyst said
worldwide security software sales totalled £5.2bn in 2007, an
increase of 19.8% from 2006 revenue of £4.3bn.
Gartner said there was an increasing shift towards offering
appliance-based products, particularly within certain segments such
as e-mail security and secure web gateway markets.
Ruggero Contu, an analyst at Gartner, said, "Compliance, data
leakage and privacy issues, along with the need to tackle the fast
evolving and sophisticated threat environment, are among the major
drivers fuelling the growth of spending on security."
In 2007, Symantec at number one and McAfee at number two
remained the leading players in the market, holding a 26.6% and
11.8% share respectively.
EMC more than tripled its revenue year on year and saw its
performance primarily influenced as a result of acquisitions.
Microsoft's entry into the consumer security protection market
will further erode pricing in this segment, said Gartner. This
effect will eventually trickle into the professional market,
starting with the small office/home office segment, and
consequently moving into the SMB market, said the analyst.