Cisco pummelled in Q4 security market

Seconds out: McAfee, and the rest of the top five vendors, gained ground on Cisco in Q4

Despite double-digit market expansion, Cisco took a battering in the security arena in Q4, with revenues down more than a fifth and market share slipping back 7.5 points.

Figures from Canalys reveal the worldwide security market in 2009's closing quarter was worth $3.64bn (£2.4bn) by shipment revenues, a sequential increase of 10.1 per cent. Hardware and software sales rose by 3.6 per cent year-on-year. Revenue from hosted services, which has only been measured since the start of 2009, represented 6.2 per cent of the overall total in Q4.

Cisco banked $652.2m in security revenue during Q4, an annual decline of 22 per cent. The networking giant's market share also fell back 7.5 points to 17.9 per cent.
McAfee, in second spot, grew sales by 28.7 per cent annually to $312.8m, while its market share spiked 1.2 points to 8.6 per cent. Symantec slipped to third place, despite a 0.7 point increase in market share. The vendor snagged 8.4 per cent of the market after growing sales by 19.3 per cent to $303.7m.

Check Point, in fourth position, increased revenue by 14.3 per cent year-on-year to $261.9m. The Tel Aviv-based firm bagged a 7.2 per cent slice of the market, a fifth of a point up on 2008.

Fifth-placed Junip er Networks enjoyed a barnstorming quarter, with revenue soaring almost a third to $231.3m. The vendor boosted market share by more than a point to 6.4 per cent.

Cisco remains the dominant force in the security appliance arena, holding 27.6 per cent of the market. But Canalys claimed Juniper, Fortinet and McAfee all posted double-digit sales growth in Q4 to gain ground on the market leader.

Canalys analyst Nikki Babatola said: "McAfee in particular has had good traction in its appliance business after having acquired Secure Computing at the end of 2008. Though Check Point experienced some contraction in its appliance business during the fourth quarter, it is now seeing the majority of its security business deployed in an appliance form factor."

Client security software was one of the market's brightest spots, with revenue up 8.6 per cent year on year. Across the second half of 2009, Symantec led the client security space with a market share of 26.7 per cent, ahead of McAfee and Trend Micro. Babatola claimed the market could look forward to continued success this year.

"The release of Windows 7 and the resurgence of the PC market have dramatically helped the client security market," she said. "This improvement will likely continue throughout 2010 as businesses roll out more computer systems."