The worldwide security software market will total $14.5 billion in 2009, an 8% increase from 2008, according to Gartner. In 2008, it grew at 19 per cent, and Gartner anticipates the market to grow 13 per cent in 2010 as revenue will total $16.3 billion.



In Europe, the security software market will total €3.2 billion in 2009, representing 7% growth from 2008.



“Although the worldwide security software market is affected by the economic downturn, the growth will continue to be strong in 2009 as security remains a critical area where drastic cuts cannot be afforded,” said Ruggero Contu, principal research analyst at Gartner. “In the medium term, the greatest growth opportunities will come from software as a service (SaaS), appliance based offering and small and medium businesses (SMBs), which are in security catch-up mode compared with large companies and therefore spend a higher percentage of their budgets on security.”



In 2009, consumer security will remain the largest segment (in terms of total software revenue) in the security software market, representing 25 per cent of the total market. Gartner estimates it will account for $3.6 billion, growing 4 per cent in 2009. The enterprise security software market formed by a number of segments such as endpoint protection platform, email security boundary and user provisioning is predicted to account for $10.9 billion, reaching 9 per cent growth in 2009.



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Additional information is available in the Gartner report "Market Trends: Security Markets, Worldwide, 2007-2013."