Qualcomm to buy NXP in $47bn deal to drive into automotive and IoT markets

World's biggest-ever semiconductor M&A deal will pit Qualcomm against Intel and Nvidia

Semiconductor company Qualcomm is to acquire NXP Semiconductors in a $47bn deal - among the largest-ever acquisitions, not just in the IT industry - as it shapes up to take on Intel, Nvidia and others in the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) and automotive markets.

NXP is one of the leading players in the automotive space, with a 14 per cent share of global automotive semiconductor sales, a position last year boosted by its $11.8bn acquisition of Freescale.

It also has a foothold in the market for IoT silicon, providing mixed-signal and standard products based on RF, analogue, power management, interface, security and digital processing. The semiconductors are used in a wide range of 'smart' automotive, identification, wireless infrastructure, lighting, industrial, mobile, consumer and computing applications.

While Qualcomm currently leads the smartphone chip market, and a merger with NXP sees the firm looking to take on the likes of Intel and Nvidia in the aforementioned markets, where it's position is currently lacking.

Steve Mollenkopf, CEO of Qualcomm, said: "With innovation and invention at our core, Qualcomm has played a critical role in driving the evolution of the mobile industry.

"The NXP acquisition accelerates our strategy to extend our leading mobile technology into robust new opportunities, where we will be well positioned to lead by delivering integrated semiconductor solutions at scale.

"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 customers and consumers to realize all the benefits of the intelligently connected world."

Rick Clemmer, NXP CEO, added in a statement: "The combination of Qualcomm and NXP will bring together all technologies required to realize our vision of secure connections for the smarter world, combining advanced computing and ubiquitous connectivity with security and high-performance mixed-signal solutions including microcontrollers.

"Jointly we will be able to provide more complete solutions which will allow us to further enhance our leadership positions, and expand the already strong partnerships with our broad customer base, especially in automotive, consumer and industrial IoT and device level security."