According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Security Appliance Tracker, factory revenue and units rose in the fourth quarter of 2013 (4Q13) compared to the fourth quarter of 2012.

Worldwide factory revenue was up 6,8% year-over-year to $2,4-billion, as shipments increased 0,6% to 546,384 units. For the full year 2013, revenue grew 5,4% year-over-year to $8,6-billion, while shipments decreased for the first
time since 2009, falling -2,1% to 2-million units.

Geographically, Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) saw the highest year-over-year factory revenue growth in the quarter (14,9%), followed by Canada which grew at 11,9%. Central and Eastern Europe posted the largest decline in 4Q13,
with revenue falling -4,9% compared to the prior year. The United States finished the year with growth of 7,7% in the quarter.

“The fourth quarter was definitely a strong finish to the year, with revenue increasing 10% sequentially, and nearly 7% compared to last year’s fourth quarter,” says John Grady, Program Manager, Security Products at IDC. “With high
profile security incidents, such as the Target breach, becoming more common, organisations are continuing to prioritise security spending.”

Cisco continues to lead the overall security appliance market with an 18,1% share in factory revenue for the fourth quarter on year-over-year growth of 23,6%. This was due in large part to its Sourcefire acquisition, which closed in
early October.

Check Point held the number two spot with a 12,7% share for the quarter as revenue increased 5,6% compared to the fourth quarter of 2012. Fortinet remained the third largest security appliance vendor, with a 6,6% share in the
quarter.

Juniper continued to build sequential momentum, but declined 6,4% compared to the prior year. Palo Alto Networks again held the fifth spot among security appliance vendors with a share of 5,4% on 47,7% growth compared to the
prior year.

At the functional market level, the Unified Threat Management (UTM) segment saw the largest year-over-year revenue increase at 25,7% and accounted for 41,2% of security appliance revenue in 4Q13. This marked the first time UTM
accounted for more than 40% of the appliance market.

Firewall revenue declined -7,1% year-over-year, as more gateway appliances gain additional functionality and are counted as UTM. Intrusion Detection and Prevention (IDP) again grew over the previous year, increasing 3,8%
compared to 4Q12. Finally, the content security segment declined -2,9% year-over-year and accounted for 16,6% of the market.

“Providing a high degree of reliability and advanced security is key to identifying and minimising cybercrime,” says Ebenezer Obeng-Nyarkoh, senior research analyst, Worldwide Trackers. “With the number of cyber-threats
increasing, business owners are looking for comprehensive solutions to protect their network.”