OPSWAT’s March 2012 Security Industry Market Share Analysis

Windows XP is dead-dead-dead. After all, Windows XP is a has-been in the world of operating systems – now 2+generations behind – and, eating dust. Or, so say all the pundits.

If you’re an XP user, as I am, then you can take some solace from OPSWAT’s latest quarterly report (released today), bolstered by more than 353,000 data points, which clearly shows Windows XP continues to hold substantial market share. In fact, according to OPSWAT’s data – Windows XP remains the most popular Windows operating system in both North America and worldwide, with slightly under half of computers using XP.

I’ll point out – I also run with Windows 7 and, Windows 8 Consumer Preview (a super system once one has crossed the “I have to learn some new stuff” barrier) – both of which are considerably safer overall than XP. So, I have no ax to grind – but, I do have an XP horse in the race. There’s little doubt of course, that XP will eventually disappear from the scene – but, not quite yet.

Windows 7, and rightfully so, continues to blaze ahead in the race to displace XP from its preeminent market position and, as shown in the following OPSWAT graphic, now commands better than 46% of the operating system market both in North America, and world wide. Windows Vista on the other hand, is barely on the horizon.

Graphic courtesy OPSWAT

Additionally, the OPSWAT report takes a close look at world wide and North American Antivirus vendors market share and, the gathered information in this latest report shows virtually no shift in market penetration from previous reports. In the world wide market place, the same Top 10 players, as expected, continue to hold substantial positions.

Graphic courtesy OPSWAT

In the North American marketplace, the same high penetration ratios exist although, the players shift position – with Symantec jumping into first position overall, from its sixth position worldwide.

Graphic courtesy OPSWAT

Microsoft, as shown in the following graphic, continues to gain ground with a fairly dramatic shift in growth.

As in previous OPSWAT reports, free security solutions remain at the top of the market with the highest numbers of installations. The top three products in North America, and worldwide, are available free for download.

OPSWAT’s analysis of the peer to peer application market share surprised me somewhat, since it showed LimeWire continuing to hold a market share -despite a court injunction prohibiting the use of the application, dated October 26, 2010.

On the other hand, there was no surprise in seeing µTorrent maintaining its lead over the competition in the public file sharing application market – as the following graphic indicates.

Graphic courtesy OPSWAT

The full report which is chock fill of absorbing statistics is available here.

So, who is OPSWAT?

If you’re a techie, then you’re very likely familiar with AppRemover, a free powerful anti-malware, antivirus application remover, and Metascan Online, a free online file scanner – both from OPSWAT. Beyond this direct connection however, you might not be familiar with OPSWAT.

From the site:

OPSWAT is the industry leader in software management SDKs, interoperability certification and multiple-engine scanning solutions. Our solutions are simplified and comprehensive, solving complex development problems to reduce time and costs for your engineering and testing teams.

OPSWAT offers software manageability solutions to streamline technology partnerships between leading technology solutions and software vendors. By enabling seamless compatibility and easy management capabilities, we make connecting your solutions with other software applications effortless.

Our innovative multi-scanning solutions deliver optimized anti-malware protection that increases detection rates without sacrificing performance with slow and cumbersome scans. Because no single anti-malware engine can catch every threat, we combine multiple engines to scan simultaneously, significantly improving the probability of detecting a threat.

AVAST Still The Leader In The AV Market Says OPSWAT’s Latest Quarterly Market Share Report

In the lucrative antimalware market, AVAST Software is still running ahead of the pack with a 16.61% share worldwide. Microsoft is no slouch in the run for worldwide market share but still has some catching up to do to catch AVG, and Avira, who control second and third place respectively.

According to OPSWAT’s latest quarterly market share report, released yesterday, overall worldwide market penetration by the top 15 antimalware vendors, has remained virtually static – based on data from OPSWAT’s  June 2011 report. Except that is, for Lavasoft (the Ad-Aware people), who broke past the top 15 vendor barrier.

Graphic courtesy OPSWAT

On the North American front, Microsoft retains its leading position with a 16.33% share of the market (Microsoft’s free Security Essentials, remains at the top of the North American market) – followed closely by Symantec at 15.28%, and AVG at 14.32%. AVAST continued to push ahead in the ranks, jumping up slightly, to capture 13.28% of the North American market – just behind AVG.

Graphic courtesy OPSWAT

Report Wrap-up:

In North America, fifty-two different antivirus vendors, and 141 antivirus products, were detected in this report. The top five vendors in North America combined to control 66.22% of the market, about 2% more than in OPSWAT’s June report.

The top five vendors in the worldwide market increased their share as well, but only slightly, to 59.87%.  Sixty-four vendors and 226 products were detected worldwide.

As in our previous reports, free solutions remain at the top of the market with the highest numbers of installations. The top three products in North America and the top four products worldwide are available free for download.

Looking at the top ten products in North America, only Symantec and AVG have more than one product ranking, which helps them to become the 2nd and 3rd leading vendors in North America. Microsoft is able to dominate the market as a vendor due to the large number of installations of just one product, Microsoft Security Essentials.

In the worldwide market, only AVG has more than one product ranking in the top ten. AVAST and Avira have individual products that top the chart with more than 10% share, resulting in their positions at the top of the worldwide antivirus market along with AVG.

The full report which is chock fill of absorbing statistics is available here.

So, who is OPSWAT?

If you’re a techie then you’re very likely familiar with AppRemover, a free powerful anti-malware, antivirus application remover from OPSWAT. Regular readers here will also be familiar with the latest freebie from OPSWAT – Metascan Online – a new service which is similar in many respects to VirusTotal.

From the site:

OPSWAT is the industry leader in software management SDKs, interoperability certification and multiple-engine scanning solutions. Our solutions are simplified and comprehensive, solving complex development problems to reduce time and costs for your engineering and testing teams.

OPSWAT offers software manageability solutions to streamline technology partnerships between leading technology solutions and software vendors. By enabling seamless compatibility and easy management capabilities, we make connecting your solutions with other software applications effortless.

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