Qualcomm has acquired NXP Semiconductors in a $47B deal
Qualcomm has announced it has reached a deal with semiconductor producer NXP to acquire the company in a $47 billion dollar deal. Qualcomm will pay $110 per share for the company that manufactures most of the infotainment systems found in our cars today. This deal is one of the largest to ever occur in the semiconductor industry.
It’s pretty obvious Qualcomm had their sights set on the company for their position in the burgeoning smart car market, which could be the next booming industry for semiconductor producers as the Internet of Things expands to the rest of our lives beyond just our mobile devices.
CEO Steve Mollenkopf had this to say about the acquisition:
“The NXP acquisition accelerates our strategy to extend our leading mobile technology into robust new opportunities. By joining Qualcomm’s leading SoC capabilities and technology roadmap with NXP’s leading industry sales channels and positions in automotive, security and IoT, we will be even better positioned to empower our customers.”
Despite the acquisition, NXP’s operations will remain independent of its new parent company, largely because the skills required for managing the supply chain for it is different than those involved directly in chip design. According to some analysts, NXP’s factories couldn’t be easily adapted to producing Qualcomm chips because they were built more than 60 years ago.