The number of users in North America buying software from Russian internet security company Kaspersky Lab is growing, while the U.S. market remains the second-largest for the company in terms of sales volume, the company’s Chief Business Officer Alexander Moiseev said in an interview with pro-Kremlin news outlet Sputnik.
Last year, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump banned the use of Kaspersky Lab within the U.S. government, marking the Moscow-based antivirus firm as being vulnerable to Kremlin influence. But according to Kaspersky, the ban has not affected the company sales in America.
“The United States is still the second largest market for us. Russia takes the third place, followed by Latin America … In [North] America, we have difficulties, but even despite them, we see an increase in the number of users, primarily due to online sales. The number of people who deliberately choose our product is growing, despite negative media reports and restrictions on sales in government agencies. In this segment – online sales – there is also growth in revenue,” the top-manager said.
At the same time, sales to businesses in the region are falling, Moiseev noted.
“Many of our clients have contracts due for renewal. And they are delaying it until the situation clears up,” he said.
Kaspersky Lab has suspended its plans to open offices in Chicago and Los Angeles, while the opening of an office in Toronto has been postponed until 2019, Moiseev said.
“We will open an office in Toronto next year. The need to open offices in Chicago and Los Angeles has disappeared due to the general difficulties in work in the region. We are facing now stagnant corporate sales. At the same time, B2C [business to consumer] sales are growing in the online segment, but it is centralized, there is no need for new offices to develop it. So for now, we are temporarily suspending plans to open new offices,” Moiseev said.
