[Kosh]

I wonder what prompted this decision.

The per-share price represents a 60 percent premium over McAfee's Wednesday close of $29.93. McAfee shares surged 58 percent after the deal was announced Thursday to hit $47.42 in premarket trading. Intel shares slipped 2.5 percent to $19.11.

Intel, which is based in Santa Clara, Calif., said the deal highlights "that security is now a fundamental component of online computing."

"With the rapid expansion of growth across a vast array of Internet-connected devices, more and more of the elements of our lives have moved online," Intel CEO Paul Otellini said. "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."

Intel said the deal with hurt earnings slightly in the first year the companies are combined. Excluding costs and other one-time items related to the acquisition, Intel predicts the deal will slightly boost earnings next year and improve after that.

Both boards of directors have unanimously approved the deal. The deal still requires McAfee shareholder approval and regulatory clearances.

[Turambar]

why would anyone want mcafee?

[Kosh]

A better question is why is Intel choosing to get into anti-virus? Seems pretty far away from semiconductors.......

[Androgeos Exeunt]

Hack protection for their GPUs and CPUs?

[Nuke]

virus scanning is somewhat cpu intensive, and it would be awesome if there was better performance in those areas of the cpu.

[FUBAR-BDHR]

Well Intel doesn't only do processors so it may be for the networking division.  Not sure how embedded bios anti-virus with flash upgrades would go over with monopoly laws. 

[Nuke]

i doubt it would be anything like that, i was thinking along the lines of hardware acceleration of virus scanning operations.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

As far-fetched as this may sound, perhaps they're trying to build a new CPU with a dedicated processor for antivirus software?

[FUBAR-BDHR]

From the transcript of the Intel/Mcafee teleconference

As a result, we have concluded that security has now become the third pillar of computing, joining energy-efficient performance and Internet conductivity in importance. We believe that the future of computing will rest on improvements in and the integration of these three key pillars. We believe that security will be most effective when enabled in hardware. Joining the assets of McAfee with Intel will accelerate and enhance the combination of hardware and software solutions, improving the overall security of our platforms. Bringing together McAfee and Intel will facilitate innovative breakthroughs in security going forward. The bottom line is this will better protect Internet users and their devices, and that will accelerate growth for Intel and value for our shareholders.

There is a lot more but that was the key paragraph.  Sees they are looking to embed in chips.  Farther down they talk about IPv6 devices and adding security to TV's and everything else connected by it.  Also some discussion on cloud computing. 

[achtung]

They're doing it for the government contracts, patents, and encryption tech. My guess is they will either improve (implementation in hardware) or ditch the consumer-grade garbage.

[SpardaSon21]

I do not want McAffe AV installed inside my hardware.

[Locutus of Borg]

I do not want McAffe AV installed inside my hardware.

[S-99]

The imagery this puts in my head is intel as a pomeranian just eating the biggest cat turd (which is mcafee) you ever seen.

It's imagery that begs the question why do dogs love eating cat turds/why does intel want to bother with mcafee?

[Herra Tohtori]

Isn't McAfee the company responsible for this?

 

[S-99]

That was a lovely little story Herra

[karajorma]

This may possibly be one of the most expensive revenge plan ever concocted.

Intel was also hit by McAfee's bungled update, a source inside the company confirmed to CNET. The source said that all Intel's computers inside the United States ran McAfee and many were affected but didn't know how many or whether it impacted the company's factories.