The Anti-Virus Boom

Puja Sharma

NEW DELHI, INDIA: In recent times, the anti-virus market in India has opened up and global players are now eying the Indian market, especially the retail, SOHO and SMB segments as they offer huge opportunities for penetration.

While the vendors such as ACI Infocom, Unistal, ESET and AVG have already entered the Indian market with a host of new products, others are preparing to enter the rat race. Sources within the industry say that Kingsoft (China) is another vendor that is watching the Indian anti-virus industry closely and evaluating its options here, while Panda from Spain has plans to re-enter the country.

While vendor competition becomes tougher, customers are rejoicing as this has given rise to genuine anti-virus products becoming increa­singly affordable. Channel parters are watching this space closely as it is proving to be a lucrative business area.

The SMB enterprises again are looking beyond end-point security. they want a total solution, ranging from e-mail security, gateway-level specialized security and Spam control, among others

Market size

According to a recent Gartner prediction the Asia-Pacific security market is growing at an average of 28 percent, even as the worldwide market for anti-virus solutions at large is growing at 12 percent.

“The anti-virus industry is growing extensively and the market opportunity in the SOHO and retail segment alone is US $40 million (nearly Rs 200 crore). The SMB enterprises again are looking beyond end-point security and they want a total solution, ranging from e-mail security, gateway-level specialized security and spam control, among others,” shared Anil Gupta, Head-National Sales, Microworld.

Competition toughens

The advent of a host of anti-virus and Internet security vendors has opened up the market for customers in the retail, SOHO and SMB domain. Many of these vendors have introduced anti-virus at a price range of Rs 300-400, thereby giving customers the option of buying genuine software at an affordable price.

MH Noble, MD, Zoom Technologies, distributors of Kaspersky range of solutions in India said,“Anti- virus only sells when the product cures and removes virus and does not slow down the computer/system. No small, local or foreign player can threaten the business of an established player, as it requires a big team carrying out research in several different regions and analyzing the samples in all regions of the world for the product to be effective. However, the product has to be affordable.”

Peter Baxter, VP-Business Develop­ment, AVG Technologies explained, “No company is secure and competition-proof in today's age especially with so many anti-virus software solution providers (SPs) entering the Indian market. However, regardless of the technological superiority of any company, without adequate support one can quickly lose customers. Pricing, coupled with consistency and value for money, plays an important role when it comes to grabbing the marketshare. While many brands decide on a low-entry point and increase price over time. We believe that the Indian consumer is now savvy to this and looks for consistency and support as opposed to short-term pricing reductions.”

Big players under threat?

The established players and the ones who have been around in the market for decades, however are of the opinion that competition only toughens them up. These vendors are of the view that having several options will give customers an ability to get more discerning and enable differentiation between anti-viruses that can give them just protection and the ones that can provide them greater protection.

Sharing his views on rising competition, Jaganath Patnaik, VP-Sales and Marketing, Quickheal pointed out, “Pricing has never played that important a role as far as anti-virus solutions are concerned as one needs to offer value for money to the customers.”

Pointing out that anti-virus as a product is very similar to an operating system software, and like a user, who needs only one operating system to run the machine, he only needs one anti-virus solutions to fight viruses, Karthik Shahney, Regional Director, Mcafee stated, “When it comes to buying an anti-virus, price does play a deciding role for the customer but he also seeks quality. Anti-virus, as a software, is getting commo­ditized and the new entrants are lowering prices to penetrate the market further. However, security market is not only about anti-virus. The customer needs to bear in mind whether he needs simple protection or great protection for their machines and in case of latter, only that vendor who can provide 24x7 support and has an effective R&D in place can meet their requirements.”

Echoing similar sentiments, Amit Nath, Country Manager India & SAARC, Trend Micro shared, “Vendors who under­stand the anti-virus market are going to remain unaffected by the fact that competition is on the rise. Throwing rock bottom prices at the market will not really help the new entrants grow as vendors. One needs to have a road map of three/four years, visualize the growth of the industry and have a strong R&D set-up in place.” Nath further mentioned that 'price vs value' phenomenon will not work for too long.

Conclusion

Buying an anti-virus is more or less like purchasing a mobile phone. There are numerous options available and one needs to keep the desired features and price of the product in mind, before they select the best possible option. With the influx of a host of anti virus vendors, the customers will be in a better position to discern the quality of the product which will happen only when they have experienced the product. Hence the vendor who develops closeness with the channel partner community and offers good quality product backed by effective R&D set-up will continue to survive and grow in the market.