Symantec Consumer Revenues Increase in Q1

Consumer sales of Norton Anti-Virus Software helped Symantec Corporation, the manufacturer of Norton Anti-Virus, to exceed its financial forecasts for the first quarter, which ended June 30th. Revenue rose to $316 million for the first quarter, an increase of 39% over the same period last year. John Thompson, Symantec's CEO, noted that the revenue growth is likely due to security responses after 9/11 and the proliferation of destructive viruses such as Nimda and Code Red. As a comparison, Symantec's competitor, Network Associates, Inc. reported that its net revenues for the same period rose 21% to $233 million. Nearly one-third of Symantec's revenue originates from consumer product sales.