Microsoft Owns 2.3 % of the Worldwide Security Solutions Market

Just ahead of the launch of Microsoft Security Essentials 1.0, formerly codenamed Morro, analysis firm Gartner indicated that the Redmond-based company accounted for a share of just 2.3% of the worldwide security solutions market. Microsoft currently focuses mainly on offering business customers security products under the Forefront brand and end users Windows Live OneCare.

The software giant did manage to increase its revenue from the sale of security products by 16.3% in 2008 compared to 2007, but accounts for only an insignificant portion of the $13.5 billion in revenue for all the players in the security software market in 2008.

Overall, revenue generated from sales of security products jumped by of 18.6% between 2007 and 2008. “In 2008, the security market did not show any noticeable impact from the economic downturn,” explained Ruggero Contu, principal research analyst at Gartner. “A double-digit growth in a challenging economic climate shows that security remains a key priority for CIOs and IT security leaders.”

Symantec continues to dominate the market by far with a share of 22% in 2008, although the company suffered a drop in audience from 24.4% in 2007. However, the outfit did generate revenue of almost $3 billion the past year, a sum which jumped from $2.76 billion in 2007. McAfee is runner up with $1.47 billion in revenue and a market share of 10.9% in 2008. Trend Micro came in third with $9.38 million and a share of 7%.

“During times of economic uncertainty and budget restrictions, IT security leaders increasingly need to show business value and cost-effectiveness for security measures, and this has impacted and slowed sales cycles,” Contu added. “However, new product delivery methods, such as software as a service (SaaS) and host based offerings, and expected increasing interest from the small and midsize business (SMB) sector will sustain growth in the market in 2009.”