Broadcom made an unexpected and unsolicited bid to acquire Qualcomm a couple of months ago for over $100 billion but its initial bid was rejected by the chipmaker. A revised bid was later submitted and was also rejected by Qualcomm. There has been a lot of back and forth between the two companies since then and while the door still remains open to a deal, a new report claims that Intel is now considering a bid for Broadcom, the company that’s trying to buy Qualcomm.
Citing people familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Intel is considering multiple options including an acquisition bid for Broadcom. However, the report does mention that it’s not guaranteed that such an offer is going to be made with one source even predicting that it’s going to be unlikely.
One can understand why Intel might be considering this step. Even though it has been one of the largest semiconductor companies on the planet for decades, Intel doesn’t really have a presence in the smartphone SoC market. If Broadcom’s acquisition of Qualcomm works out, the combined entity would become a much larger competitor for Intel for components other than smartphone processors, such as cellular radios.
So it would be in Intel’s interests if Broadcom’s acquisition bid for Qualcomm falls through and the company might not make a move for the former then but if it goes the other way, then Intel’s reportedly open to the option of acquiring Broadcom.