Worldwide network security appliance and software revenue was up 5% between the last quarter of 2004 and the first quarter of 2005, and is forecast to grow 27% to US$1.3 billion in the first quarter of 2006.

According to Infonetics Research's quarterly worldwide market share and forecast service, Network Security Appliances and Software, total annual revenue is expected to grow to US$6.5 billion by 2008.

Infonetics' forecast for 1Q05 network security appliance and software revenue was within 1% of actual revenue.

"This was a fairly quiet quarter overall, with Cisco's big jump in hardware secure router revenue clocking in as the only major event of the quarter," said Jeff Wilson, principal analyst at Infonetics Research. "The network security market will grow at a 15% compound annual growth rate between 2004 and 2008. This strong growth is being driven by the many new viruses, malware, and targeted attacks that surface every day, compelling companies of all sizes to invest in security. Many areas in the market will continue single- and double-digit quarterly growth over the next few years."

1Q05 Market Highlights
- 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%

Network Security Appliances and Software tracks VPN and firewall appliances in six price-banded categories, hardware secure routers, SSL VPN gateways, VPN and firewall software, host- and network-based IDS/IPS products, and gateway anti-virus products. Forecasts are updated quarterly and cover all regions (North America, EMEA, Asia Pacific, CALA, and worldwide).

Companies tracked in this service include 14South, AEP, Avaya, Aventail, Check Point, CipherOptics, Cisco, Computer Associates, Crossbeam, CyberGuard, D-Link, Enterasys, F5, Fortinet, Intel, Juniper, Lucent, McAfee, NETASQ, Netilla, Nokia, Nortel, Secure Computing, SonicWALL, Symantec, TippingPoint, WatchGuard, Whale, ZyXEL, and others.