This could be nothing more than reorganization. It's reported that the merger between Norton and Avast will result in a 25 percent reduction in staff numbers. Mergers between antivirus companies also have the potential to prevent innovation. But a lack of competition can also result in more functionality being reserved for paying customers.
This isn't a problem to the millions of people who only utilize free antivirus products. Over time, less competion usually leads to higher prices. Together, they don't form a monopoly, but every time a merger such as this one happens, the industry as a whole becomes a little less competitive. Norton and Avast were already very large companies. While it's still too early to predict the outcome of Norton and Avast becoming one company, it does raise a number of potential questions. Mergers are usually not good news for those outside of the agreement. In other words, the value of the merger is largely based on its free userbase and the resulting company probably won't do anything that could cause those numbers to drop. The idea behind freemium antivirus is that a portion of all free users can eventually be convinced to pay for a premium service. The freemium model has been highly profitable for Avast. Norton is primarily a paid-for service but the new company is highly unlikely to expect free users to suddenly start paying. Out of its 435 million users, only 16.5 million users pay a subscription fee. The new company is likely to want to combine these specialities.Īvast is arguably best known for its freemium service. Norton is considered stronger in identity protection while Avast has always been primarily focused on privacy. The most likely outcome is that both sets of customers will benefit from a wider range of services. It's not yet known exactly what the deal will mean for existing customers of each company. Avast is expected to become more popular in America too. Įach company will also have greater access to the other's primary market. Norton will be able to market their products to 435 million Avast users, and vice versa. The deal is expected to be highly profitable because it provides opportunities for both companies to grow. It's expected that the deal will be finalized in 2022. The vast majority of customers will come from Avast and the company will be joint headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic, and Tempe, Arizona. The CEO of Norton will remain in charge, while the CEO of Avast will become the company's new president. The new company will be one of the largest providers of security software. Once the deal is completed, Norton will acquire all of Avasts shares for between $8.1 and $8.6 billion. They are best known for their freemium antivirus products but they are also a popular VPN provider. They offer antivirus, identity theft protection, and a VPN service.Īvast is a Czech security company with over 435 million users. NortonLifeLock is an American security company with over 80 million users.