Global security software revenue totaled $21.4bn in 2014

BANGALORE, INDIA:  Worldwide security software revenue totaled $21.4 billion in 2014, a 5.3 percent increase from 2013 revenue of $20.3 billion, according to Gartner, Inc.

Low growth in endpoint protection platforms and a decline in consumer security software — markets that together account for 39 percent of the market — offset the strong performance of high-growth areas, such as security information and event management (SIEM), secure Web gateway (SWG), identity governance and administration (IGA) and enterprise content-aware data loss prevention (DLP).

Symantec was once again the largest security software vendor by revenue, although the company suffered its second consecutive year of revenue decline, down 1.3 percent to $3.7 billion.

A 6.2 percent decrease in the consumer security software segment (which forms 53 percent of Symantec's security software revenue) was the primary cause of the decline in overall revenue growth.

Security software revenue for second-placed Intel (McAfee) grew 4.6 percent in 2014 to reach $1.8 billion. Revenue declines in two of its major markets (consumer security software and endpoint protection platforms), which form 75 percent of its security software revenue, balanced the healthy performance in other segments.

At third, IBM's security software revenue grew 17 percent in 2014 to reach $1.5 billion. Its SIEM software products grew 21 percent, driven by strong adoption of this category of products by enterprises and managed security service providers (MSSPs) alike.