IDC: The market size of China's network security hardware products is expected to reach 21 billion yuan in 2024, a year-on-year decrease of 6.5%.

According to a report released by IDC, the market size of China's network security hardware products is projected to be 21 billion RMB in 2024, a decrease of 6.5% compared to the previous year, indicating a continued sluggish market trend. Sangfor Technologies Inc., Venustech Group Inc., New H3C Group, Huawei, and Topsec Technologies Group Inc. have taken a leading position in the fiercely competitive market with their product technology and market sales advantages. The specific market shares of China's network security hardware products in 2024 are shown in the chart below: In recent years, the development of China's network security hardware market has faced significant challenges as traditional network security hardware products are no longer sufficient to meet users' security needs. IDC provides the following recommendations to technology service providers from both market and technology perspectives: Technology side: By early 2025, the emergence of DeepSeek and the popularity of Manus have accelerated the deployment of user-generated AI applications on a large scale, driving the rapid development of AI intelligence. These major changes in the technology market will bring many opportunities to the network security industry. On one hand, GenAI will empower network security products, improving product efficiency and effectiveness. For example, incorporating generative AI capabilities into firewall products will enhance firewall policy and rule creation and optimization abilities, automate report generation capabilities, streamline product deployment and operation abilities, and provide intelligent analysis and response support for firewall management platforms. On the other hand, the security of large models itself has attracted widespread attention, bringing a significant incremental market to the network security industry. The increasing deployment of generative AI applications will lead to a growing demand for products related to secure detection and protection of large models. Currently, many internet companies, security vendors, and cloud service providers have released products and services related to the security of large models based on their existing product capabilities, such as large model application security firewalls and large model security risk assessments. In the future, developing secure solutions tailored for large model scenarios will be crucial for technology service providers to keep up with the trends of the times. Market side: In the network security hardware market, products such as firewalls, intrusion detection and defense systems, Web Application Firewalls (WAF), and virtual private networks have been developed for many years. Against the backdrop of overall economic downturn, the demand for adding and replacing such products has weakened. To better respond to market changes, technology service providers need to keep up with the new trends in product technology, select appropriate marketing and promotion strategies, focus on promoting key points, and enhance product influence. In addition, apart from the traditional pillars of government, finance, and telecom industries, technology service providers need to expand into more upstream and downstream industries, develop specific industry solutions based on industry needs, and achieve precise marketing. Wang Yiting, Senior Analyst of IDC China's network security market, stated that in 2024, the impact of the economic downturn on the network security industry continues as the market size of China's network security hardware products experiences negative growth compared to the previous year. Recently, the government has issued numerous economic stimulus policies, which will alleviate the economic burden on many industries in the next 1-2 years, providing policy support for the recovery and growth of the network security industry. On the other hand, the rapid development of large model applications will inject significant opportunities for the overall network security market. For technology service providers, seizing the trend of large models to enhance their product capabilities, develop new products for large model application scenarios, and quickly seize new markets are crucial. IDC will continue to monitor the changes in this market.