In the latest move to expand its edge computing business, Intel Corp. has agreed to purchase Smart Edge computing platform, an indirect subsidiary of Pivot, for US$27 million on Oct. 15.
Smart Edge is a virtualized mobile smart edge (MEC) computing platform that provides services to enterprises and businesses at the edge. The technology enables services including personalized ads, digital signage, VR and AR, and product information. It can be linked with various IoT devices to provide data analytics.
The platform can also create caching points to quickly deliver information with lower latency. Decentralizing data delivery across many nodes across the network is faster than delivering data from large, centralized data centres.
By scooping up Pivot’s Smart Edge, Intel is looking to further expand into the 5G market, where IoT and edge computing is expected to boom. In its press release, the company said that it’s expecting the 5G silicon addressable market to reach $65 billion by 2023.
Intel exited the 5G smartphone modem business in April this year and transitioned its focus towards network infrastructure and data centres.
Reuters reported that Smart Edge did not generate much revenue in the first half of 2019.
The acquisition is expected to complete in the fourth quarter of 2019. Intel said around 25 Smart Edge employees will join Intel when the transaction closes.
