According to IDC, revenue on network security appliances for the quarter grew to $2.3 billion which is a 7.2 percent year-over-year gain. Shipments of network security appliances grew to 538,428 units, which is a 5.2 percent yearly gain.
The fastest growing segment of the market is the Unified Threat Management (UTM) segment which held 35 percent of the market in 4Q12. UTM device revenues grew by 34.3 percent during the quarter, according to IDC.
Both the Firewall and the IPS parts of the network security appliance market however were hit by declines.
IDC noted that the Firewall/VPN market declined by 2.8 percent during the quarter, though it still holds down 24 percent of total revenue for the network security appliance market. The IPS market declined by 3.6 percent as UTM competition took some share.
Read the full story at EnterpriseNetworkingPlanet:
Network Security Appliance Market Grows to $2.3 Billion in 4Q12
Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of the IT Business Edge Network, the network for technology professionals Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.