“The U.S. government has ordered a national security review of Singapore-based Broadcom Ltd’s $117 billion bid for Qualcomm Inc., in an unusual move that prompted Qualcomm to delay its March 6 shareholder meeting,” Reuters reports.
“The government action on Sunday highlighted growing U.S. concerns about safeguarding semiconductor technology and cast a doubt on the deal’s success. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reviews deals for potential national security concerns, rarely reviews mergers before companies have clinched an agreement,” Reuters reports. “CFIUS asked Qualcomm to postpone its shareholder meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, by 30 days. Reuters reported last week that CFIUS had begun looking at Broadcom’s bid as pressure grew from politicians, including senior Republican Senator John Cornyn.”
“The semiconductor industry is locked in a race to develop chips that power so-called 5G wireless technology, allowing the transmission of data at faster speeds. San Diego-based Qualcomm has emerged as one of the biggest competitors to Chinese companies vying for market share in the sector, such as Huawei Technologies Co, making it a prized asset,” Reuters reports. “A source familiar with CFIUS’ thinking said that if the deal was completed, the U.S. military was concerned that within 10 years, “there would essentially be a dominant player in all of these technologies and that’s essentially Huawei, and then the American carriers would have no choice. They would just have to buy Huawei (equipment).””
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: It’ll be interesting to see how this one shakes out.
Regardless, Qualcomm’s FRAND abuse must stop. Qualcomm’s licensing scam — charging a percentage of the total cost of all components in the phone, even non-Qualcomm components — is unreasonable, illogical, and irrational.
SEE ALSO:
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U.S. judge rules Apple lawsuits against Qualcomm can proceed – September 8, 2017
Qualcomm CEO expects out of court settlement with Apple – July 18, 2017
Apple-Qualcomm legal dispute likely to be ‘long and ugly’ – July 7, 2017
Qualcomm wants court to block Apple from U.S. iPhone imports and sales – July 6, 2017
Judge rules U.S. FTC antitrust lawsuit against Qualcomm to proceed – June 27, 2017
Apple uses Supreme Court decision to escalate war against Qualcomm – June 20, 2017
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