News

Security Software Sales Making Comeback, Says Gartner

• By David Nagel
• 06/13/2011

Following a significant drop in 2009, the security industry has seen a resurgence in 2010. This, according to a Gartner report, "Market Share Analysis: Security Software, Worldwide, 2010."

Gartner reported a 12.2 percent increase in worldwide IT security solutions sales, from $14.7 billion in 2009 to $16.5 billion in 2010. The growth was driven in part by new delivery models and new types of technologies being introduced. Significant growth trends were seen in the categories of security-as-a-service, security information and event management, and secure Web gateway products.

"Products within the security market are undergoing rapid evolution, in terms of both new delivery models--with security as a service showing increasing popularity--and new technologies being introduced, often by startup companies," said Ruggero Contu, principal research analyst at Gartner, in a prepared statement. "Key vendors continued to expand their product portfolios, buying companies where appropriate and expanding their reach into emerging markets."

Symantec easily retained its leadership position, hitting revenues of $3.12 billion in 2010 for an overall 18.9 percent market share. No. 2 McAfee saw greater growth over the period (7.3 percent versus 5.8 percent) and came in at $1.71 billion and a 10.4 percent market share. Trend Micro saw 5.7 percent growth, hitting $1.04 billion and a 6.3 percent market share. Rounding out the top 5 were IBM, which also saw a 7.3 percent increase, winding up at $814.7 million and a 4.9 percent market share, and EMC, which saw a massive 25.6 percent growth in the period, winding up in the No. 5 slot at $626.6 million and a market share of 3.8 percent.

The complete security market analysis report is available on Gartner's site for $1,295.