Thread: Desktop Antivirus

This market contains a mix of free and paid anti-virus software. In fact, more than 50% of the responses this time were split between Norton, a paid anti-virus, and AVG, which has both free and paid versions. Commercial anti-virus vendors need to watch out because we see this trend growing further in the future, and not without good reason. Ofthe top ten antivirus players that were voted this time, four provide free versions of their software-AVG, BitDefender, Avast, and Avira. Not only that, but AVG is the most future ready, making it winner of the Users' Choice awards this time. Norton is runner up, and close on the heels of AVG.



McAfee is a distant third, with two other players close on its heels-Quick Heal and Kaspersky. Going deeper, Kaspersky anti-virus is the most persuasive brand of the lot, followed by Quick Heal and Trend Micro. Brand loyalties in this space are very because oflow cost ofthe products. None-the less, Quick Heal enjoys the highest brand loyalty at 52% . Trend Micro and McAfee need to be careful, as a large percentage of their existing users are likely to shift to other brands. Overall, with the growing number of broadband connections in the country, there will be more competition in this space between free and commercial anti-virus vendors. But more connections also means greater demand for anti-virus products, which is an opportunity for everyone. Let's see which way the ball moves.