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Market analysts, Gartner, have said that the anti-virus industry grew 13.6 per cent in 2005, with revenue totalling $4 billion. According to Gartner, the growth in malicious software worldwide is proving to be a boon for anti-virus companies but Microsoft's launch of its Live OneCare consumer firewall, anti-virus and backup software may cloud their happiness somewhat. Gartner says that future prospects for the market are looking good and predicts double-digit growth in the short term. The strongest growth, it says, is occurring in Canada, followed by the Middle East and Africa and the Asia/Pacific regions. Gartner analysts said that with vendors expected to add security features to software, such as anti-spyware and firewall functions, competing products are becoming more closely matched in performance. According to them, the market for stand-alone anti-virus and anti-spyware products for businesses and consumers will eventually start to decline as interest for end-point security product suites continues to grow. According to Gartner, Symantec holds a majority of the market at 53.6%, followed by McAfee at 18.8% and Trend Micro at 13.8%. Though all three vendors were down over their 2004 market share, it was a minor shift, however, with none losing more than 1%. In terms of growth between 2004 and 2005, Panda Software SL came in first at 23.8%, currently holding 3.2% of the market. Though a distant fourth place, Panda is strong in the European small and midsize business market, Gartner said. Striking a warning note for the major vendors, Gartner said that they could be affected by Microsoft, which now has consumer and enterprise security products. Earlier this month, Microsoft launched Live OneCare, its consumer firewall, anti-virus and backup software. To lure consumers, Microsoft is offering three PC licenses for $49.95 per year. Gartner analysts said that Microsoft's entry into the consumer anti-virus market is expected to unleash stronger price competition, which will likely affect the revenue opportunity for other players. This month Microsoft re-branded its enterprise software as Forefront. The suite includes Antigen, enterprise anti-virus and anti-spam software and Forefront Client Security, an early beta release that provides anti-virus protection across business desktops, laptops and server operating systems. According to Gartner, the enterprise share of the anti-virus market in 2005 was 51.5% while the consumer segment came in at 48.5%.
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