Worldwide network security market up 5% in Q1 2005

Worldwide network security appliance and software revenue was up 5% between Q4 2004 and Q1 2005, and is forecast to grow 27% to $1.3 bln in Q1 2006, according to Infonetics Research. Total annual revenue is expected to grow to $6.5 bln by 2008. Cisco is the worldwide leader in revenue market share in the overall network security appliance and software market, a position they have more or less maintained since 2002. Check Point is second in worldwide revenue share; Juniper is close behind in third. Enterasys, ISS, McAfee, Nokia, Nortel, SonicWALL, and Symantec are strong second-tier players, with significant revenue market share across a number of categories. VPN and firewall appliances and software make up the majority of revenue (78% in 1Q05), with IDS/IPS second at 14%, and gateway antivirus third at 8%. North America accounts for 45% of network security appliances and software revenue, EMEA for 29%, Asia Pacific for 21%, and CALA for 5%.