Multinational chip maker company Intel Corporation recently announced the acquisition of German network chipmaker Lantiq, a company established in 2009 with headquarters in Neubiberg near Munich.

Lantiq develops semiconductor products for computer networks used by telecom companies.

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"By 2018, we expect more than 800 million broadband connected households worldwide," said Kirk Skaugen, Intel's senior vice president and general manager of its Client Computing Group.

"Intel has been a global leader in driving broadband into the home and to connected computer devices." Skaugen continued.

"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 acquisition will help Intel to provide cable residential gateways, including gateways for digital subscriber lines (DSL) over phone networks, fiber optics, LTE and smart routers for the IoT.

"Intel and Lantiq share a common vision about the evolution of the connected home and the intelligent network," said Dan Artusi, CEO of Lantiq.

"Together we can drive the transformation of the broadband customer premises equipment (CPE) as it becomes a smart gateway that connects an increasingly diverse roster of devices and services in the home."

The move by Intel marks a step towards intense competition against the likes of Qualcomm and Samsung. Qualcomm announced its own smart home initiative during the 2015 International CES.

Samsung, on the other hand, recently announced it will be launching smart home appliances this year. The South Korean giant also hired former Google senior director Dora Hsu, who will be leading the company's IoT developer platform, SmartThings.

TagsIntel, Lantiq, Germany, Semiconductor, Computer Networks, IoT, fiber optics, Smart Routers, Qualcomm, SMARTTHINGS