16/12-04   -   Pressmeddelande

3Q04 Results Show Strong Growth For Security Appliances in Western Europe as Popularity Continues to Increase, Says IDC

European customer demand for network security solutions delivered as an appliance continues to increase, and IDC´s European Quarterly Security Server Appliance Tracker recorded another period of strong growth for security appliances in the third quarter. Around $155 million in factory revenue was generated in the region from security appliance sales in 3Q04 - an increase of 54% over 3Q03. Growth from a unit shipment perspective was 79%, with almost 80,500 units shipped. Compared to the second quarter of 2004, unit shipments were flat and factory revenue increased by around 6%.

During the quarter we again saw the newer, less established security appliance categories - intrusion detection and prevention (ID&P) appliances and unified threat management (UTM) appliances - capture further share of the total market from the larger, more mature firewall/VPN category. UTM appliances exhibited triple digit growth over the annual period, with impressive growth also coming from ID&P appliances. Despite its share of the total security market dropping, growth from firewall/VPN appliances, although not as strong as the other two categories, remains good. For the quarter, firewall/VPN appliances made up 71% of revenue generated, ID&P appliances 19%, and UTM appliances 10%. The firewall/VPN category constituted 79% of all unit shipments, UTM appliances 18%, and ID&P appliances 3%.

"Customers need to take a layered approach in securing themselves against today´s wide range of threats," said Oliver Harcourt, senior research analyst for IDC´s European Enterprise Server research team. "While a firewall remains an integral part of an organization´s security framework, on its own it is no longer enough to ensure protection, hence customers need to add further security functionality or ´layers´ of security. Whether these extra layers are deployed through single-function point solutions or multifunction integrated solutions varies between customers, but one clear trend is the preference for the use of appliances to add these layers."

Vendor Highlights

- Cisco again takes top spot from both unit and revenue perspectives in the total market as well as in the firewall/VPN and ID&P categories.

- Nokia moved up one spot from 2Q04, overtaking Juniper, to become the second-ranked security appliance vendor following an increase in its share and a drop in share from Juniper.

- Check Point makes an appearance in the top 5 for the first time since launching its appliances in the first quarter of 2004. Check Point overtook WatchGuard and SonicWALL to take the number 4 spot, the latter of which dropped out of the top 5 following a relatively weak quarter.

- In the newly-formed UTM appliance category there were again different market leaders from a unit and revenue perspective. Fortinet took the number 1 spot in terms of units and Symantec in revenue terms.

IDC´s European Quarterly Security Server Appliance Tracker is a quantitative tool for analyzing the European security appliance market on a quarterly basis. The Tracker includes quarterly revenues (both customer and factory) and unit shipments segmented by vendor, security appliance category, model, country, and price band. For additional information about this product, please contact Oliver Harcourt on +44 (0) 208 987 7216, or email oharcourt@idc.com. Alternatively, contact your local IDC office.

About IDC
IDC is the premier global market intelligence and advisory firm in the information technology and telecommunications industries. We analyze and predict technology trends so that our clients can make strategic, fact-based decisions on IT purchases and business strategy. Over 700 IDC analysts in 50 countries provide local expertise and insights on technology markets. Business executives and IT managers have relied for 40 years on our advice to make decisions that contribute to the success of their organizations.

IDC is a division of IDG, the world´s leading technology media, research, and events company. Additional information can be found at www.idc.com
# # #

All product and company names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

For more information, contact:
Oliver Harcourt
+44 (0) 208 987 7216
oharcourt@idc.com

Terry Cummings
+44 (0) 208 987 7231
tcummings@idc.com