Big Yellow in trouble?

[mercurie]

Looks like an AV product company that was once very on top of it's game is now feeling the heat of the competition. :o

What do you think is it a blip or something else going on here?

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?siteid=mktw&guid=%7B94D241E6%2DDE4E%2D49C5%2D9CB7%2DA7BC24DDA367%7D&


:-\

[bigc73542]

I usually get a chuckle when a corporation the size of Symantec post's a loss. I wouldn't call 1.263 billion dollars profit a loss of any consequence. They have acquired several other companies this and last year and that will affect overall profits. Got to feel sorry for them they are almost broke;D ;D Yaeh right;)

[Randy_Bell]

{QUOTE-> ... They have acquired several other companies this and last year and that will affect overall profits. Got to feel sorry for them they are almost broke;D ;D Yaeh right;) <-QUOTE}You're right BigC, they acquired {or merged with} Veritas, a storage company;and before that they had acquired PowerQuest {makers of DriveImage, PartitionMagic, etc.} -- both very positive moves for them over the long run. I think both Symantec and Microsoft {the big corps that internet forum and newsgroup posters "love to hate"} are in good shape ... ;)

[mercurie]

So nothing to the brain drain? Not really stressing the health of the company I think it will make it don't get me wrong. But has it peeked and now on a decline that will take some real work to get it back on track. I just wonder if the competition is really hurting them. Norton security is pretty expensive and not considered the best of breed anymore by many. That is their bread and butter.

[Paranoid2000]

{QUOTE-> I wouldn't call 1.263 billion dollars profit a loss of any consequence. <-QUOTE}According to the article, that was their total sales, not their profits. They made a loss of $251.3 million.

Companies that engage in takeover after takeover are not necessarily doing it out of strength either, if it becomes their only way of developing or improving their product range. Symantec's buyout of PowerQuest seems to have been more an attempt to resurrect Ghost (woooo....) while the Sygate takeover makes little sense unless they've run out of steam with Norton Firewall. Aside from products they've bought in from outside, can anyone name anything new developed by Symantec recently?

[bigc73542]

The quality of their security products AV/FW/AS and so on have really improved since the 2005 versions have come out. 2006 ver is supposed to be even better with detections right at the line with the Russian AV. Their leadership in the computer security sector is secure for a long time to come in my opinion.

[bigc73542]

{QUOTE-> According to the article, that was their total sales, not their profits. They made a loss of $251.3 million.

Companies that engage in takeover after takeover are not necessarily doing it out of strength either, if it becomes their only way of developing or improving their product range. Symantec's buyout of PowerQuest seems to have been more an attempt to resurrect Ghost (woooo....) while the Sygate takeover makes little sense unless they've run out of steam with Norton Firewall. Aside from products they've bought in from outside, can anyone name anything new developed by Symantec recently? <-QUOTE}


as long as they own it and it works shouldn't matter if they developed it or not. I am running several Symantec products and they work just fine. No arguement that they are a bit pricey though.

[mvdu]

Maybe competition has made headway, but probably not enough to make a permanent dent yet. Yes, some people, like me, do not see them as the best of breed - and are looking around. I just don't see Norton like KAV or NOD. But it's a good AV and the large number of users are reasonably protected.

[Arup]

Heave Ho...................thuddddddddddddddd.

RIP.

[The Hammer]

{QUOTE-> Heave Ho...................thuddddddddddddddd.

RIP. <-QUOTE}What are you trying to say?::)

[Paranoid2000]

{QUOTE-> 2006 ver is supposed to be even better with detections right at the line with the Russian AV. <-QUOTE}And KAV2006 is a substantial jump ahead of KAV 5.0 so will this just be a case of playing catch-up with the previous version? More to the point, KAV2006 is in public beta so people can make their own judgement about it - nothing so far (http://www.symantec.com/public_beta/) from Symantec.{QUOTE-> as long as they own it and it works shouldn't matter if they developed it or not. <-QUOTE}Well, it becomes an issue in terms of support or bug-fixes/upgrades if they have not retained the original development team. And it is a bad sign if a company cannot produce anything new itself without buying in outside talent - at some point, the money will run out.

[bigc73542]

Nav 2006 Internet Security is not in Beta it is already in final release on their web site.

[Arup]

{QUOTE-> What are you trying to say?::) <-QUOTE}

Good riddance.

[Paranoid2000]

{QUOTE-> Nav 2006 Internet Security is not in Beta it is already in final release on their web site. <-QUOTE}OK, I sit corrected - but also quite underwhelmed by a feature list (http://www.symantec.com/home_homeoffice/products/virus_protection/nav2006/features.html) whose first "new" item is "12 months of protection updates and new product features as available throughout the year; annual subscriptions available for subsequent renewal". Aside from preventing browser home page hijacking (presumably IE-only) , is there anything new here compared to 2005/2004?

[Arup]

Apologies BigC, didn't know you are using Norton.

[bigc73542]

I haven't personally tried Nav 2006 as I am happy with NIS 2005. I guess it all boils down to what you like and run. There are quite a few choices to pick from fortunatly:-\ . I would really hate it if there was only version of antivirus to run, what would I do in my spare time if I couldn't install and uninstall security products five or six times a week.

[Paranoid2000]

{QUOTE-> ...what would I do in my spare time if I couldn't install and uninstall security products five or six times a week. <-QUOTE}Why, stand on a soap-box and proselytise about the "one true security product", like the rest of us do... ;D

[bigc73542]

{QUOTE-> Apologies BigC, didn't know you are using Norton. <-QUOTE}


Just because I use it doesn't mean that you have to. It just works very well for me. But I fully realize that not everyone likes the same things. No apologies necessary;)

bigc

[bigc73542]

{QUOTE-> Why, stand on a soap-box and proselytise about the "one true security product", like the rest of us do... ;D <-QUOTE}



I would But I haven't found the best yet, I have tried a couple that do work very well though.;D ;D ;)

[Paranoid2000]

{QUOTE-> But I haven't found the best yet... <-QUOTE}Here's one: ;)

[bigc73542]

I have to admit that is a pretty good looking soapbox:D

[mikel108]

I installed NIS 2006 on my Dad's new PC this week-end and was surprizingly impressed with how light it ran. They have this tool bar that sits beside the system icon tray that alerted him that he needed to run a scan, and that windows updates were waiting. I am even thinking about buying it in a few months when my other subscriptions run out. As a bonus I can buy this one off the shelf with-out having to deal with another fear of giving my credit card # out over the internet.

[Mele20]

Well, it looks to me what I have been predicting for some time. Symantec is a company that peaked a while back. Now it is just up to the public to realize it. They create nothing new...no talent evidently left in the company. They raise definition renewal prices to ridiculous heights and they have had no support for years now. Plus, they have DRM. Who wants that?!

KIS is nothing like KAV 2005. It's fantastic and a whole new ballgame out there. Plus, there is excellent support.

[YeOldeStonecat]

{QUOTE-> while the Sygate takeover makes little sense unless they've run out of steam with Norton Firewall. <-QUOTE}

They did, I think I read in 2 years their firewall will be based on Sygates tech, appearing in enterprise products first.

[mikel108]

{QUOTE-> Plus, they have DRM. Who wants that?! <-QUOTE}

OK, you've got me Mele. Whats DRM??

[ronjor]

DRM (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management) .....

[mikel108]

Oohhh! I see.

I personally don't use pirated stuff, BUT I don't want some company controling what I do, when I pay them to work for me.