Intel Buys McAfee, Decides That Security Matters - The UpStream

Intel Buys McAfee, Decides That Security Matters

posted Sunday Aug 22, 2010 by Nicholas DiMeo

Intel Buys McAfee, Decides That Security Matters

Intel has purchased security and antivirus company McAfee for $7.68 billion. The processing giant will pay 60% over the closing price from Wednesday, $48 a share, making this the largest deal in Intel's history.

Intel's President and CEO Paul Otellini stressed that security is becoming an increasing importance in the company.

In the past, energy-efficient performance and connectivity have defined computing requirements. Looking forward, security will join those as a third pillar of what people demand from all computing experiences.

More on the deal after the break.

With the expansion of Internet-connected devices, Intel has felt that the current security systems couldn't handle all of the new technology and that it's becoming just as important as energy-efficiency.

For McAfee, the brand will be operated as a wholly owned subsidiary within Intel's Software and Services Group. Intel has been working on broadening their horizons in its software group to be more than just a chip manufacturer. Having McAfee's software and cloud services under Intel's umbrella will definitely add some merit to that expansion.

The deal looks to be going through, as it only awaits McAfee shareholders and regulators for approval.

Talk about a change in strategy, though. Intel is now basically saying that security and energy-efficient are equally as important. Intel has been notorious to sell security at a premium, and only on certain, more high-end items. Intel now looks to include security on pretty much every piece of technology they put their name on. One can only hope that the price for the technology won't increase because of this. With Intel's server market share trumping AMD's this quarter, this move could either make or break Intel depending on where they push their marketing campaign and their price tiers.

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