Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content management solutions, lead UAE’s anti malware retail sales with an overall market share of 37 per cent by value and 38 per cent by volume.

A total of 900,000 anti-virus products with an estimated value of $6 million were sold across UAE retail stores in 2009, said the latest IDC report about anti-malware solutions (AMS) retail channel in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan.

Saudi Arabia’s AMS retail channel market during the same period was worth $4 million on a 600,000 unit volume. In Egypt, the most populous market in the Middle East, the total value of the market is estimated at $1.5 million.

The aim of the study was to do an in-depth research of the retail channel for AMS landscape and determine its overall structure, channel size by volume, value and segment type, key retailers share, product pricing and market shares of key vendors by value and volume.

Kaspersky Lab topped both market share categories by a margin of 11 per cent and six per cent from the second most popular vendor respectively, the report said.

“Cutting edge technology and engineering excellence are the hallmarks of Kaspersky Lab’s solutions and everything we do is centered around developing and delivering products that provide ultimate online security,” said Garry Kondakov, managing director, Kaspersky Lab EEMEA.

“Also we pay lot of attention to build solid relationships with our partners who are taking care of sales of our products in the region – we try to expand their network and support them in every way.”

“We are thoroughly satisfied that we are now officially the number one consumer brand in the AMS retail market sector in the UAE which is the Middle East’s biggest and most competitive,” he said.

“While in Saudi Arabia and Egypt we are currently number two in retail according to the study, I strongly believe that we have all necessary means to improve our positions within a considerably short period of time,” he added.

The majority of AMS retail sales in the UAE are driven by customers buying solutions for their personal use. However, nearly 30 per cent of the sales are focused towards business/company users.

Out of the business sales, around half of the sales are from small and medium business. Hypermarkets in the UAE contribute to over 20 per cent of AMS sales in both value and volume.

Electronic Stores contribute over 25 per cent to AMS sales in terms of value and volume. Nearly 80 per cent of all sales within the electronic stores in the UAE are for personal or individual users.

“The findings of the IDC report suggest that there is a vast untapped potential especially in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, the region’s biggest markets. Kaspersky Lab will leverage the insights acquired from this study in order to develop a robust strategy to educate consumers in both markets about the risks associated with unprotected Internet surfing,” said Tarek Kuzbari, managing director, Kaspersky Lab, Middle East.

“During a recent five-month study completed in June 2010, Kaspersky Lab analysts tracked an online crime gang using a version of the Zeus Trojan and developed a geographic pattern of its attacks as well as a profitability evolution.

“The results were particularly alarming for Egypt and Saudi Arabia which registered 7,500 and 5,000 infections respectively ranking the countries 1st and 3rd globally in terms of number of victims.”

“The IDC study clearly indicates that there is a distinct lack of consumer awareness and we intend to address this gap because we feel it is our responsibility to do so as the region’s leading secure content management solutions vendor,” Kuzbari added.

“I would like to mention as well our anti-grey market campaign we launched in August 2009 to protect our customers form illegal and fake products. Our paramount priority is the protection of our customers from buying illegally imported products and indirectly lending their support to pirates in this respect,” he continued.

“Now we are only activating codes designed for use within the Middle East region. Localized versions of the products ensure that buyers gain technical support and activation codes. Moreover, we have introduced boxes that include a territorial belonging identifier – a special line on the box in Arabic and English that specifies the region that the product is sold in, in addition to a scratch-card with ME barcode,” Kuzbari concluded. – TradeArabia News Service