According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Security Appliance Tracker, the total security appliance market showed positive growth in both vendor revenue and unit shipments for the fourth quarter of 2015 (4Q15). Worldwide vendor revenues in the fourth quarter increased 9.3% year over year to $2.95 billion, and units grew 6.2% year over year for a total of 635,281 shipments. For the full year 2015, worldwide security appliance revenue increased 9.9% to $10.6 billion when compared to 2014, while worldwide unit shipments increased 8.1% to 2.33 million units, a record high.
The Unified Threat Management (UTM) sub-market has doubled in size over the last five years reaching record high revenues of $4.85 billion for 2015 and year-over-year growth of 18.5%, the highest growth among all sub-markets. The Firewall and Intrusion Detection and Prevention sub-markets also had positive year-over-year revenue growth in 2015 with gains of 9.2% and 7.9%, respectively. The VPN and Content Management sub-markets experienced weakening revenues in 2015 with year-over-year declines of -17.2% and -2.2%, respectively.
Regional Highlights
The United States market represented roughly 40% of the total security appliance market revenue globally and is growing at a double-digit rate with 13.1% annual growth for 2015. Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) (APeJ) is the second largest region representing 23% of total worldwide revenues and showing the strongest growth for 2015 with year-over-year revenue growth of 16.5%. Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) accounted for 26% of worldwide vendor revenue and showed an annual increase of 2.9% compared to 2014.
"The high growth in many appliance markets is an encouraging sign for IT security appliance vendors, with continued talk of going virtual, many customers still desire on-premise hardware solutions," said Elizabeth Corr, Research Analyst, Security Products at IDC.
About IDC Trackers
IDC Tracker products provide accurate and timely market size, vendor share, and forecasts for hundreds of technology markets from more than 100 countries around the globe. Using proprietary tools and research processes, IDC's Trackers are updated on a semiannual, quarterly, and monthly basis. Tracker results are delivered to clients in user-friendly excel deliverables and on-line query tools. The IDC Tracker Charts app allows users to view data charts from the most recent IDC Tracker products on their iPhone and iPad. The IDC Tracker Chart app is also available for Android Phones and Android Tablets.
The Unified Threat Management (UTM) sub-market has doubled in size over the last five years reaching record high revenues of $4.85 billion for 2015 and year-over-year growth of 18.5%, the highest growth among all sub-markets. The Firewall and Intrusion Detection and Prevention sub-markets also had positive year-over-year revenue growth in 2015 with gains of 9.2% and 7.9%, respectively. The VPN and Content Management sub-markets experienced weakening revenues in 2015 with year-over-year declines of -17.2% and -2.2%, respectively.
Regional Highlights
The United States market represented roughly 40% of the total security appliance market revenue globally and is growing at a double-digit rate with 13.1% annual growth for 2015. Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) (APeJ) is the second largest region representing 23% of total worldwide revenues and showing the strongest growth for 2015 with year-over-year revenue growth of 16.5%. Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) accounted for 26% of worldwide vendor revenue and showed an annual increase of 2.9% compared to 2014.
"The high growth in many appliance markets is an encouraging sign for IT security appliance vendors, with continued talk of going virtual, many customers still desire on-premise hardware solutions," said Elizabeth Corr, Research Analyst, Security Products at IDC.
About IDC Trackers
IDC Tracker products provide accurate and timely market size, vendor share, and forecasts for hundreds of technology markets from more than 100 countries around the globe. Using proprietary tools and research processes, IDC's Trackers are updated on a semiannual, quarterly, and monthly basis. Tracker results are delivered to clients in user-friendly excel deliverables and on-line query tools. The IDC Tracker Charts app allows users to view data charts from the most recent IDC Tracker products on their iPhone and iPad. The IDC Tracker Chart app is also available for Android Phones and Android Tablets.
