Breaking News: In an unexpected move, the microchip giant Intel has announced that it will pay about $7.7 billion in cash to buy security-software firm McAfee Inc. According the statement issued by Intel, McAfee will continue to operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary, reporting into Intel’s Software and Services Group.
Many would wonder why a hardware giant is interested in buying out a software major. But Intel says that McAfee will help Intel in its goal of providing on-chip security.
Acquisition enables a combination of security software and hardware from one company to ultimately better protect consumers, corporations and governments as billions of devices – and the server and cloud networks that manage them – go online. The acquisition reflects that security is now a fundamental component of online computing. Today’s security approach does not fully address the billions of new Internet-ready devices connecting, including mobile and wireless devices, TVs, cars, medical devices and ATM machines as well as the accompanying surge in cyber threats. Providing protection to a diverse online world requires a fundamentally new approach involving software, hardware and services.
McAfee is a major player in the ever growing cyber security market and saw $2 billion revenues in 2009. Now with the recent acquisitions of Tencube and Trust Digital, McAfee has also managed to make a name in Smartphone security market as well.
Intel though, is on an acquisition spree themselves. They had recently acquired the cable modem business part of Texas Instruments and now this multi-billion dollar acquisition of McAfee should send out clear signals of where Intel is headed.
Diversification is the hot mantra!
[via]TechCrunch
Raju PP is the founder-editor of Technically Personal, which is one of the most widely read technology blogs on the web. He holds an Engineering degree in Electronics & Communication, and has previously worked as a Technical Specialist in Banking Software domain.
It’s really interesting too see what Intel is up to, especially the fact that they have let Macfee to continue their operations under their own control.