VPN, Firewall Sales to Grow, Says Study

November 21, 2002 -- According to reports released Wednesday by research organization Infonetics (Infonetics.com), sakes of virtual private network and firewall hardware are expected to surge globally over the next year as businesses invest in protecting their communications infrastructures against Internet-based attacks.

VPN and firewall product sales rose 4 percent during the third quarter, compared to the previous quarter, lifted by government spending on security and by the US health care industry preparing to comply with federal regulations.

According to Infonetics, growth in the market could present big benefits for market leader Cisco Systems Inc., as global sales of VPN and firewall products are expected to rise to $874 million in the third quarter of 2003, an increase of 31 percent over the $668 in the third quarter of 2002.

Much of the spending in the past quarter was driven by corporations hooking more remote operation to the internet, says Infonet.

Cisco led the VPN and firewall market in the third quarter with 39.3 percent of revenues, and was followed by Check Point Software Technologies with 12.7 percent. Check Point’s presence was larger than it appeared, said Infonet, as a result of software partnerships with companies like Nokia, which had 7.5 percent of revenues.