SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA—Network-protection provider Fortinet is leading the race in safeguarding enterprises from various cyberattacks as shown in its strong global and regional security appliance market shares last year, which it expects to increase further over the next five years.
“Fortinet wants to be the security market leader by 2020,” Fortinet Vice President for Southeast Asia and Hong Kong (SEA HK) George Chang said during the company’s media conference held here last week. “And if you look at the way we’ve been growing in the last few years, we believe that it’s very much achievable.”
Citing various growth studies, Chang said they have consistently commanded the security-appliance segment in recent years.
As per IDC, Fortinet is ranked as the third biggest player in that field worldwide in 2014, while region-wise, it was placed in No. 2 and No. 1 positions in Asia Pacific SEA HK, respectively.
Offering end-to-end network security solutions, the company covers all sizes of businesses—from the high-end (38 percent) to mid-range (26 percent) and entry-level (36 percent).
Vertical-wise, it has continued to expand and excel in both the telco and technology categories, accounting for 19 percent of the overall business; followed by the public sector or government, with a share of 11 percent; finance or insurance, 10 percent; and the rest, other verticals.
To date, the company has shipped 2 million units of security appliance, in which more than 400,000 units were delivered last year—the biggest shipment volume so far internationally.
It’s global billings as of last year reached 896 million, or 31 percent greater than in 2013.
This is thanks largely to the increasing number of employees, which currently stands at more than 2,900 the world over.
“That’s very aggressive [for us]. And you probably see from our earnings. In the last three years, our business has been very steadily increasing. While we’re aggressive, we’ve also managed consistency in doing business,” Chang said, while citing Fortinet’s tremendous revenue growth from $16 million in 2013 to $1 billion in 2014.
Bullish on their business expansion, particularly in the SEA HK region, Chang told the BusinessMirror that their success in the security-appliance space will continue in the coming years.
In fact, he noted Frost & Sullivan’s report last month, showing an addresable market at around 424.06 million this year, and a compounded annual growth rate of 12.5 percent from 2015 to 2021.
As per country basis, Thailand, Myanmar and Lao PDR—all serving even the Indo-China area—has an estimated market of 46.61 million in 2015, with a compound annual growth rate of 15.7 percent in the next six years; Malaysia, 78.47 million, 11.4 percent; Singapore, 116.63 million, 7.5 percent; the Philippines, 30.09 million, 16.2 percent; Indonesia, 48.85 million, 20.2 percent; Vietnam and Cambodia, 31.92 million, 17.1 percent; and Hong Kong and Macau, 71.49 million, 13.1 percent.
“When you combined the Southeast Asian and Hong Kong business and economies together, it’s sixth largest worldwide,” he said of the promising growth potential seen in the region.