Broadcom Wants to Buy Qualcomm for $105 Billion

Over the weekend, Qualcomm acknowledged that it had received an unsolicited offer from Broadcom to acquire the company. The offer from Broadcom is valued at around $105 billion and would be the biggest technology takeover deal ever.

Qualcomm hasn’t accepted the proposal by any means and will instead now assess it with their board of directors and decide if it’s the right move.

If Broadcom were to acquire Qualcomm, they would become the third-largest chipmaker behind Intel and Samsung. The move could also help Qualcomm and Apple sort out their current licensing issues around the globe, since Broadcom likely has a better relationship with the Cupertino giant. That’s not a guarantee, of course.

What would this mean for the smartphones we use? For now, probably not much. Qualcomm is still Qualcomm and would still be doing the same Qualcomm things even if Broadcom owned them. They are still the largest mobile phone chipmaker and I can’t imagine this would change that.

EDIT: PCMag has a great write-up on what might actually happen if Broadcom buys Qualcomm. In short: it might be horrible for innovation and all of us.

Still, $105 billion is kind of a big deal.

// Bloomberg