Semiconductors

Qualcomm is set to pitch life without NXP

25 Jul 2018

The $90 bln chipmaker’s $44 bln purchase of its rival could die on Wednesday unless Beijing gives it an 11th-hour nod. Traders seem to think that’s unlikely. Going it alone won’t be easy for Qualcomm, but in the 21 months since striking the NXP deal it has not stood still.

TSMC etches chip fortunes onto investor memories

19 Jul 2018

The $190 bln Taiwanese semiconductor maker delivered the $2 bln in quarterly earnings that was anticipated. Weak smartphone and cryptocurrency demand, as well as global trade tensions, will be a drag in the second half, though. Betting on AI and 5G should help TSMC longer-term.

Broadcom chief uses up eight of his nine lives

12 Jul 2018

With a single deal – the $19 bln acquisition of software company CA – Hock Tan has torched a reputation built through years of savvy acquisitions. Broadcom lost nearly $16 bln of market value at a stroke. Recovering from that will take time, luck and abstinence.

Broadcom’s new M&A strategy has a bug

11 Jul 2018

The $105 bln chipmaker’s prolific dealmaking has supercharged growth. But its size, and the torpedoing of its Qualcomm bid, left it bereft of natural targets. Expanding into software by buying CA brings new opportunities - and substantially increases the risks of pitfalls.

Chinese tension whips up a new chip super-cycle

5 Jul 2018

Micron suffered a fresh setback after a rival said a mainland court banned the $60 bln company from selling some circuitry in the country. Even as booming demand pushes prices up, legal battles and China’s quest for homegrown tech amid trade strains are reshaping the industry.

Intel scandal matters little today, a lot tomorrow

21 Jun 2018

The ouster of CEO Brian Krzanich for a relationship that breached company policy need not be a disaster. It shows the relevant rules apply to all, and Intel can run itself smoothly for a while. Mounting tech challenges, however, make it critical to find the right replacement.

Apple supplier’s M&A bite looks too much to chew

20 Jun 2018

British chipmaker Dialog is eyeing U.S. touchscreen group Synaptics. That would help it diversify away from main client Apple, which recently cut orders, and the returns look good. Yet funding a winning bid may mean taking on a slug of costly debt or raising equity.

China’s DRAM dreams may trigger glut memories

14 Jun 2018

Consolidation, rising costs, and technological limits have turned memory-chip production from a cash-burning exercise into a profitable triopoly. Chinese firms’ efforts to break in – along with Beijing’s pricing investigation – risk eroding the industry’s good times.

Investors think Qualcomm-NXP deal is back on

6 Jun 2018

The $44 bln chip acquisition-in-waiting may finally get approval from Beijing – if Chinese telecom-equipment group ZTE can turn a U.S. business ban into a less damaging fine. NXP’s stock is again trading within 10 pct of the offer price. It’s still a bet fraught with uncertainty.

TSMC’s new chips hint at life after Apple

19 Apr 2018

Quarterly sales at the $210 bln chipmaker topped $8 bln, missing estimates. Weak iPhone sales and fizzling bitcoin prices probably weighed. Even so, TSMC is set to debut cutting-edge new semiconductors that will position it ahead of rivals as AI and autonomous cars take off.

Qualcomm’s future stuck on slow boat to China

16 Apr 2018

The chipmaker’s strategy depends heavily on closing its $44 bln NXP deal. A possible trade war leaves Chinese regulators in no mood to approve the U.S. company’s purchase, though. Qualcomm does have one bright spot: its long-running spat with Apple may be coming to a head.

Qualcomm’s director election offers double rebuke

30 Mar 2018

Support for incumbents averaged under half the U.S. chipmaker’s outstanding shares. That’s a warning after the board resisted Broadcom’s $117 bln hostile bid, nixed by Donald Trump. Meanwhile, the convoluted process and an error voting Vanguard’s shares shame an archaic system.

Market jitters accentuate M&A regulatory risk

26 Mar 2018

Dealmaking sprees are prone to extinction events. Market panics erode the value of buyers’ stock, make bankers reluctant to lend, and change the outlook violently. Recent tumult doesn’t yet qualify, but it makes it harder to overlook deals that push the regulatory limits.

Qualcomm needs an intermediator more than a buyer

16 Mar 2018

The $90 bln chipmaker’s ex-chairman Paul Jacobs’ improbable buyout idea would need lots of help. The real key to boosting Qualcomm’s value is mending its rift with Apple. While Jacobs isn’t the man for that job, deep-pocketed SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son theoretically could be.

Dealmakers contend with a boom being chipped away

14 Mar 2018

M&A practitioners gathering in New Orleans can toast the strongest start to a year since AOL and Time Warner connected in 2000. The annual conclave also coincides with the demise of Broadcom's $117 bln bid for Qualcomm. It raises prickly issues and also hints at cyclical excess.

China and U.S. trade places in 5G space race

14 Mar 2018

America is nudging Qualcomm into the role of a national tech champion. China is a potent rival, and has pushed home champs Huawei and ZTE into global leaders. The trouble is that Beijing is expert at bending firms to its will, while Washington is grappling to define its new role.

Qualcomm slays a lion, baits a dragon

13 Mar 2018

Having the U.S. government essentially declare it a national champion allowed the chipmaker to defend itself from rival Broadcom’s bid. But a rise in anti-foreign sentiment may hurt Qualcomm too – since it’s still waiting for China to approve its own $44 bln acquisition of NXP.

Three ways Broadcom tripped itself up

13 Mar 2018

While President Trump personally nixed the chipmaker’s $117 bln takeover of Qualcomm, Broadcom helped author its own failure. It failed to realize that chips are the new steel for national security. Its sheer hostility didn’t help. And boss Hock Tan was just too impatient.

Qualcomm deal delay hints at new tech nationalism

6 Mar 2018

U.S. authorities fear the $95 bln chipmaker could lose its innovative edge if acquired by rival Broadcom. Yet objections to a foreign buyer look like a fig leaf for the real message: Qualcomm is too strategic to be taken over by a suspect suitor, regardless of its nationality.

U.S. simplifies Qualcomm decision by complex means

5 Mar 2018

The foreign-investment watchdog has told the chipmaker to delay a vote that could give board control to nominees of Singapore-based Broadcom, which wants to buy its rival for $117 bln. It’s a surprising twist in a tangled situation. But it removes a big unknown from the equation.