Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Intel has acquired German Internet of Things (IoT) chipmaker Lantiq in a move to bolster its broadband technologies in the connected home market.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but it is expected to close in around 90 days and will give Intel access to Lantiq's wireless broadband access and home networking technologies.
Intel claims that the purchase will help the firm expand into the residential broadband gateway market, a core part of connecting and controlling domestic IoT devices.
Kirk Skaugen, senior vice president and general manager of Intel's Client Computing Group, explained that the deal will expand the company's presence in homes through the proliferation of network connected devices.
"By 2018, we expect more than 800 million broadband connected households worldwide," he said.
"The combination of our cable gateway business with Lantiq's technology and talent can allow global service providers to introduce new home computing experiences and enable consumers to take advantage of a more smart and connected home."
The creation of Intel's IoT platform will be helped by Lantiq's 2,000 broadband communications and technologies patents.
These include its fibre to the distribution point, which effectively brings fibre broadband closer to the home and faster connections to IoT devices.
Few details have been revealed about how Intel will integrate Lantiq or whether Lantiq's 1,000 staff will remain with the firm.
Dan Artusi, Lantiq's chief executive, was positive about the acquisition, though. "Intel and Lantiq share a common vision about the evolution of the connected home and the intelligent network," he said.
"Together we can drive the transformation of broadband customer premises equipment as it becomes a smart gateway that connects an increasingly diverse roster of devices and services in the home."
Intel is clearly making a push into the wireless side of connectivity with the launch of its 5th-Generation Core vPro platform.
Such investments and acquisitions appear to form part of Intel's objective to create an end-to-end platform to drive an IoT ecosystem.
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