Continuing its efforts to diversify beyond personal computers, Intel is introducing new Atom processors aimed at powering a broad spectrum of connected devices. Ton Steenman, the head of the chipmaker’s Intelligent Systems Group, explained that his company is focusing on technology that is already in widespread use, such as servers and industrial machinery, as well as networked home appliances and other next generation devices.

The executive said in a press briefing this week that Intel’s latest Atom chips support a wide operating temperature range, provide integrated security, and include new software from Wind River and McAfee. He didn’t disclose a launch date, but did mention that his firm is looking to get its chips into “billions of devices that we’ve never been in before” – a goal that it will have to achieve in order to stay relevant in the post-PC era.

Back in 2005, PCs accounted for 93 percent of all connected devices. A new report published by Broadband Technology Service at IHS predicts that this figure will shrink to 23 percent by 2017, the year when the total number of connected video devices is expected to surpass the world’s population.

The research firm estimates that there will be 8.2 billion such gadgets in 2017, a 90 percent increase from 4.3 billion in 2013. The North American and Western European markets will grow 10 percent annually over the next four years, while the Asia-Pacific region is set to expand twice as fast, adding 1.9 billion connected devices to the global installed base in the same period. On the other end of the spectrum, sub-Saharan Africa will contribute 145 million net addition by 2017.