6/17/2008 -- It's business as usual in the content security gateway market, where an increase in average selling prices (ASPs) hasn't dampened buyer enthusiasm.

Cisco Systems Inc., for example, posted strong revenue results, thanks largely to its higher-than-average ASPs.

Across the industry, high ASPs -- and even higher than average selling prices, in Cisco's case -- helped offset slower-than-expected unit growth, according to market watcher Infonetics Research. (The content security gateway market includes both software and hardware appliances.)

Even in the midst of economic uncertainty, buyers are still spending, Infonetics said. "Vendors are reporting that some buyers boost security spending during uncertain economic times because of increased hacking activity, bolstering the content security market," said Jeff Wilson, a principal analyst with Infonetics, in a statement. "On the vendor front, the first quarter of 2008 was a bit sideways, with very mixed results: BlueCoat was down, Cisco was way up and other vendors showed good incremental growth."

And how. For the year, Infonetics projected, worldwide content security gateway revenues are expected to jump nearly a quarter.

Q1's high ASPs are expected to level off and decline, however, according to Infonetics. They could decline drastically, the market watcher predicts, if volume vendors such as NETGEAR and D-Link enter the space. --Stephen Swoyer