The company has been working to diversify beyond its personal-computer chips business. Last year's focus was on wearables.
Intel is expanding its push into the connected-home market, agreeing to buy home-networking and broadband chips company Lantiq.
The
Munich, Germany-based company could help Intel build up its smart-home
technologies, especially in residential gateways and smart routers,
which are used as hubs to connect other devices around the house.
The deal, announced Monday,
is expected to close in the next three months, though terms weren't
released. Lantiq was created in 2009 when German chipmaker Infineon
agreed to sell its wireline communications business to San
Francisco-based private-equity firm Golden Gate Capital for 250 million
euros ($280 million).
The deal is a small sample of a big push by
many tech firms to get a piece of the rapidly expanding smart-home
market. Last year, Samsung Electronics snapped up smart-home devices
maker SmartThings for an undisclosed sum, and Google purchased smart
thermostat maker Nest for $3.2 billion. These companies are all betting
that people's homes will soon include many more connected devices, so
they are busy making Internet-connected appliances and more complex
routers.
The acquisition comes as Intel, based in Santa Clara,
Calif., has been working to grow past its core personal-computer market,
which had faced decline for years, and into new areas around the
Internet of Things, in which just about anything can be connected to the
Web. Many of Intel's Internet of Things deals last year centered on
wearable technology, with the company teaming up with watchmaker Fossil
and glasses-frame maker Luxottica to create new devices.
Source: http://www.cnet.com
