Paul Otellini, Chief Executive Officer of Intel, is banking on the possibility that customers will pay to guard against possible attacks that have yet to materialize with his company's $7.68 billion acquisition of security software maker McAfee.

Otellini announced Intel's largest-ever takeover. With the purchase, the world's largest computer chip maker aims to add McAfee's security software to its product line. McAfee solutions would help security features into Intel semiconductors for smartphones, cars, televisions and other devices.

Alex Vallecillo, a fund manager at PNC Capital Advisors, says that the solutions may be hard to sell to consumers and businesses who are not convinced that mobile electronics are vulnerable to the same threats that plague computers.

"The premise is there's a market for mobile security... So far, I haven't heard about massive virus attacks hitting smartphones or iPads," said Vallecillo.

More than 90 percent of Intel's sales come from semiconductors for PCs. The company says that the integration of McAfee security into its products will make machines based on them more efficient, secure and alluring to makers of other kinds of devices.

Investors in McAfee will get $48 a share in cash. The figure sees a 60 percent premium over McAfee's closing share price the day before the deal was announced.

"As we look at all of the growth areas for Intel silicon, one of the consistent purchase criteria for both IT managers and consumer is security... This is a pretty natural step for us," said Renee James, the head of Intel's software division.

The company says that, when woven directly into a chip, software can run faster and doesn't have to go through other programs. The set-up also makes it difficult for hackers to circumvent security measures. Otellini said that McAfee has added over 10 million new variants of malware to its security threats database over the first half of this year.

"The number of new security threats identified every month continues to rise... We have concluded that security has now become the third pillar of computing, joining energy-efficient performance and Internet connectivity in importance," he said.

However, analyst from Gartner, the research firm, says that there still remains little evidence that smartphones and other mobile devices are susceptible to viruses and hackers.

Nonetheless, Intel will attempt to convince people that security in non-PC electronics is essential, similar to the way that it has convinced businesses and consumers of the advantages of chips that speed computing tasks or ensure seamless wireless connections.

"Right now nobody is screaming for security in their cars and in their cell phones," said Peter Firstbrook from Gartner.

With the move, Otellini hopes to duplicate the three consecutive years of profit that followed the launch of the Centrino wireless computing line in 2003. Experts expect growth in Intel sales to slow down to 6 percent after a 27 percent increase in profit this year.

"Intel recognizes that with current revenue levels, it needs to be more aggressive... As we move from a PC-centric era to a mobile-centric era, Intel needs to take advantage of every opportunity to expand its footprint into that marketplace." said Matthew Cowan, a co-founder of venture capital firm Bridgescale.

Experts say that McAfee may drive Intel into wider profit margins. Intel earlier announced that, for the quarter, it expects a record 67 percent gross margin. In its most recent period, McAfee reported a gross margin of 73.3 percent.

Not including cash on McAfee's books, the cost of the purchase will be at $6.8 billion for Intel. If it chooses to back out of the sale, McAfee will have to pay $230 million.