Which is the most popular antivirus software?

In an over-crowded antivirus software market, end and corporate users are often finding it difficult to differentiate between a value-added market proposition, next to the “me too” vendors of solutions. As in every other market segment, any scientific insight into the market share of various vendors offers an invaluable perspective into the market dynamics, what are customers purchasing, and most importantly, are they living in a world of ‘false feeling of security’.

Using a data set consisting of 120,000 data points, researchers from OPSWAT recently released an informative overview of the antivirus market, answering an important question - which is the most popular antivirus vendor?

According to their findings, that’s avast! Free Antivirus, followed by Microsoft Security Essentials and ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

Detailed market share statistics:

Avast - 17.4% worldwide market share
Microsoft - 13.2% worldwide market share
ESET - 11.1% worldwide market share
Symantec - 10.3% worldwide market share
AVG - 10.1% worldwide market share
Avira - 9.6% worldwide market share
Kaspersky - 6.7% worldwide market share
McAfee - 4.9% worldwide market share
Panda - 2.9% worldwide market share
Trend Micro - 2.8% worldwide market share
Other - 11.1% worldwide market share

Microsoft is the market leader in North America, followed by Symantec and AVG. Not surprisingly, the market leading avast! Free Antivirus is relying on the so called “freemium” business model, where the company grows and gains market share by offering a free alternative of their software, and earns revenue thanks to the successful conversion of free users to paid ones. Earlier this year, the company announced that it has 150 million active users worldwide, a clear indication of a working “freemium” business model.

What do you think? Is antivirus software still relevant in the age of Stuxnet, Duqu and Flame, the so called poster kids of the DIY targeted attack toolkits and weaponized malware releases? Do think free antivirus is offering a ‘false feeling of security’ compared to subscription based license models?