European security appliance market generated $183 mln in Q4 2004

European security appliance market totaled $183 mln in factory revenue in Q4 2004, growing by 32.4% over Q4 2003, according to IDC. Unit shipment growth over this period was marginally stronger, at 33.3%, with close to 90,000 security appliances shipped during Q4 2004. Revenue increased by 52.5% and unit shipments up by 67.8% in Q4 2004 over Q4 2003. During 2004 around 330,500 units were shipped, generating $627 mln in revenue. UTM (Unified Threat Management) security appliances have grown rapidly through 2004 and in the Q4 2004 captured 23% of unit shipments and 14% of revenue, predominantly taking share from the firewall/VPN appliance category. This trend is set to continue into 2005, with an increasing number of vendors launching UTM security appliances.