When chips collide: Broadcom bids $105 billion for Qualcomm in largest tech deal ever

It's an interesting time for the guts of your smartphone: Two of the companies who build big chunks of the devices we use every day may be joining forces.

Broadcom, which builds Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and wireless charging tech (among other things), just made a bid to buy Qualcomm, the San Diego-based chipmaker that provides wireless modems and processors for many of the world's top smartphones (including the iPhone).

The most interesting thing about this deal is the sheer scale of it: Broadcom is offering $105 billion for Qualcomm, which would make it the largest deal in the history of tech companies, larger than even Dell's purchase of EMC in 2015, which was valued at $67 billion. Taking into account $25 billion of Qualcomm debt, Broadcom values the deal at a staggering $130 billion total, which is about the market cap of IBM. Read more...