Broadcom Raises Its Qualcomm Offer to $121 Billion<br />Broadcom raised its takeover bid for the rival chip maker Qualcomm to about $121 billion on Monday, piling pressure on Qualcomm<br />to agree to what would be the technology industry’s biggest-ever takeover and one that could affect the future of smartphones.<br />Broadcom went after Qualcomm’s business model on Monday in a voluminous set of slides,<br />and has indicated it would seek to make peace with Apple, which is a major Broadcom customer for other types of wireless chips.<br />Qualcomm’s management team and board have consistently argued<br />that Broadcom’s takeover approach is opportunistic since it is unfolding during Qualcomm’s bruising legal fight with Apple, as well as priced too low.<br />Consumers have a stake in the contest, because Qualcomm is likely to be closely tied to the performance of future<br />handsets — particularly a new generation of wireless technology called 5G — and prices that users may pay.<br />Broadcom’s move would create a tech giant whose products would be used in nearly all of the world’s smartphones.<br />Whether a deal goes ahead, however, remains an open question: Qualcomm’s leadership fiercely opposes it, while analysts have said<br />that even if shareholders approved the deal, it could be rejected on antitrust grounds.<br />Samsung also now appears to be siding with Qualcomm, which last week announced a new patent deal with the South Korean company<br />and Samsung’s agreement to stop opposing Qualcomm in court proceedings in the country.
