China's estimated $4.9 billion IT security market could double by the year 2017, according to a new ABI Research report, but foreign IT companies may have a tough time penetrating the country's protectionist economy that gives an advantage to Chinese providers.
Despite the initial barriers to entry, ABI says that China's cybersecurity market is still "nascent" and a number of the country's vendors have been slow to develop new innovations to deal with a host of new cyber threats to consumers and businesses.
"As the market for Internet and mobile security products matures, especially on the consumer end, the demand for quality solutions and the focus on the end-user experience will become more important," said Michela Menting, senior analyst for ABI Research.
China overall has been cited as a country where cybersecurity is in need of improvement. According to Akamai's Q4 2012 State of the Internet report published in January, about one-third of the world's cyberattack traffic in the third quarter originated in China.
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