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Topic: Intel

Intel buying McAfee - Good move or bad move?

Summary: Is Intel buying McAfee a good move or a bad move? Have your say!

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

By for Hardware 2.0 |

Is Intel buying McAfee for $7.7 billion a good move or a bad move? Have your say!

[poll id="547"]

A quick roiund-up of the tech pundits and opion sites seem to indicate that people think that it's a bad move and that Intel has paid over the odds for the company.

I guess this is exactly the reason why shareholders are worried about Apple sitting on a pile of cash.

Topic: Intel

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20 comments
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  • Going to be egg on some faces for sure.

    I think we're seeing the middle part of the story. It might take a couple more acquisitions or a published strategy from Intel to really judge. From a financial point of view, McAfee has decent numbers especially in the profit margin, so it will be a net cash generator.
    terry flores
    Reply Vote

  • Wintel already has Security Essential at their hand

    Why bother on McAfee?
    LBiege
    Reply Vote

  • worthless

    no synergies here
    Linux Geek
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Intel buying McAfee - Good move or bad move?

    Intel should have bought Checkpoint Software.
    martychgo@...
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Intel buying McAfee - Good move or bad move?

    I agree with the 50% of your readers who are guessing this acquisition is a bad move, and I'm imagining McAfee shareholders laughing all the way to the bank.

    It's not inappropriate at this point to raise doubts about CEO Otellini's sanity. Will he eventually be regarded as nuttiest of Intel's gallery of CEO's? What happened to the share buyback? Instead we get a price drop of over 3% for a stock that already trades in the toilet. Surely Intel's Board of Directors must be having the same doubts that I and 50% of your readers are having. Is there a "Dump Otellini" movement gaining some momentum? Allow me to contribute to the cause.
    nikacat
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Intel buying McAfee - Good move or bad move?

      @nikacat, Bad acquisitions are sure sign that top management doesn't have enough work to do.
      patspage@...
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Intel buying McAfee - Good move or bad move?

    I see no benefit to Intel users so why do something that cannot be of use to the many? George Quigley
    geocon@...
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Intel buying McAfee - Good move or bad move?

    Hmmm...

    I know that McAfee is pre-installed on a number of OEM systems (that and Norton are generally the first things I remove from friend's systems). Perhaps Intel thinks it can give a better discount to OEMs that pre-install McAfee on Intel based OEM systems because there are lots of folks that will go for the lifetime subscription without investiging other available options that have no cost.
    PollyProteus
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Intel buying McAfee - Good move or bad move?

    Intel's out of their minds -- unless in the long run they intend to be a systems house, but that can't be a good strategy for a chip maker either.
    grd003
    Reply Vote

  • McCrapee

    Why would they buy one of the top 5 worst anti-virus companies?<br><br>-Shannon
    sds0178@...
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Intel buying McAfee - Good move or bad move?

    Intel better check the books before closing. The numbers are not plausible for a company with McAfee's customer image because their products are expensive to buy and expensive to own. Moreover, they provide no better protection than their free competitors.
    patspage@...
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Intel buying McAfee - Good move or bad move?

    It seems a strange move, more so that McAfee is a software company, that is why I voted not sure. If Intel is looking to get into software development now, I'd be asking why. Given that the majority of responders think that it is a bad move, what is going on at Intel?

    It could be part of a new business strategy from them, but in what direction is it heading? I guess we will find out.
    RealAusTech
    Reply Vote

  • Intel says...

    From Intel's news site @
    http://newsroom.intel.com/community/intel_newsroom/blog/2010/08/19/intel-to-acquire-mcafee
    ?Hardware-enhanced security will lead to breakthroughs in effectively countering the increasingly sophisticated threats of today and tomorrow,? said James. ?This acquisition is consistent with our software and services strategy to deliver an outstanding computing experience in fast-growing business areas, especially around the move to wireless mobility.?
    Should be interesting to see how this pans out.
    Agnostic_OS
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Intel buying McAfee - Good move or bad move?

    Mcafee has good crendentials in the corporate and business world. With the prices they charge, they can exist for a while. However, as someone else stated, they know something that we aren't privy to. Even the worst corporation would not spend this kind of money on a dude.
    eargasm
    Reply Vote

  • The Point is to Sell Chips

    Security companies generally will not re-code for new, patented, features until those are widespread in the market. And the new features are not much good until used. Buying a security company is one way to force a re-code for the new features and thus support Intel chip sales.
    RandSec
    Reply Vote

  • Why?

    This acquisition certainly doesn't seem like a strategic one for for Intel. Perhaps it is a new strategy but Intel expertise is making chips---not software. The problem with anti-virus software is that you are always "behind the curve" because you are fighting somebody completely faceless that is trying to defeat you so you are always in a counter move position.
    wwgorman
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Intel buying McAfee - Good move or bad move?

    As said before, one doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to know that this is a bad move! With the freebies, why would anyone ever pay for McAfee. The majority has spoken. Maybe, Intel's stockholders will too.
    pukame2
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Intel buying McAfee - Good move or bad move?

    Dunno, but with MS Security Essentials gratis, and knowing that this AV comes from the mother of the OS, all other AV software is questionable.

    However, a good Router/Firewall with hardware AV in the firmware, 'net upgradable, might make sense. We'll wait and see.

    Maybe Intel needed the code and the patents for the AV chip??
    SnappyD3
    Reply Vote

  • This is what has actually happened

    Intel CEO: "We need antivirus, can someone buy me McAfee?"
    Few hours later: "Done."
    - "Great, which version?"
    - "Version ... ?"
    illuminated.geek
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Intel buying McAfee - Good move or bad move?

    intel has now reduced its speed by almost 40% lol
    sgerper@...
    Reply Vote
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