Intel Gobbles Up IPivot for $500 Million

Santa-Clara, California-based Intel Corp. has furthered its move into the e-commerce equipment market by purchasing privately-held IPivot for $500 million (US$) in cash. This acquisition is the third Internet commerce equipment purchase for the chip giant over the past three years.

Poway, California-based IPivot designs and manufactures equipment that manages the information crossing the Internet and helps ensure faster, more efficient, more secure and more reliable transactions. The addition of IPivot’s expertise will supplement Intel’s line of network equipment.

Intel will sell IPivot e-commerce equipment directly to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and through its Internet Service Provider (ISP) channel program. Announced earlier this year, Intel’s ISP program is a worldwide channel that provides equipment to ISPs, Application Service Providers (ASPs) and value-added resellers (VARs).

Although e-commerce equipment may seem like arcane territory in the Internet world, e-commerce companies still need faster, better, and more dependable Web sites to be competitive.

Faster Performance, Faster Business

Speed and dependability are critical in Internet competition, from retail sites to business-to-business outsourcing. As online traffic skyrockets, outages such as the ones that eBay recently experienced can give the company with the best equipment a real edge.

“Customers will return to the e-commerce sites that deliver the best performance and service,” said John Miner, vice president of Intel Communications Products Group. “Because information must always be available and response times instantaneous, new devices are needed to manage ever larger workloads securely and efficiently.” Intel sees IPivot’s lineup of e-commerce equipment as a good fit to help the company deliver the fast equipment service providers need.

Intel Jockeys for an E-Commerce Equipment Stronghold

The IPivot purchase is Intel’s latest move into the Internet equipment market. Intel bought Dayna Communications, a company that builds e-commerce products for small business, in 1997. Last year, Intel acquired Shiva Corporation, a company that creates virtual private networks.

“The opportunities created by the rapid growth of the Internet are huge,” said Brett Helm, chief executive officer of IPivot. “The combination of Intel and IPivot helps bring those opportunities within reach and allows us to pursue our goal of industry leadership in this market.”

Intel is the world’s largest chip maker and is also a leading manufacturer of personal computer, networking and communications products.