Samsung spends $1 billion to strengthen US chip production

Making the chips that sit inside our smartphones, tablets and cars is a big business, and one that's only getting bigger. #Samsung is looking to take advantage of that by spending a further $1 billion on its Texas-based semiconductor facility. That cash is intended to increase Samsung's ability to produce integrated systems on a chip like its Exynos-branded SoCs that reside inside mobile devices. The Austin American Statesman quotes Catherine Morse, Samsung's local general counsel, saying that the move will create more jobs. The executive believes that the firm will seek to employ a further 250 - 500 people in the expanded factory when its upgrades are finalized. That should be completed by mid-2017 and serves as a rare boost for Austin's now-shrinking chip-making economy. It's also a sign that Samsung is looking to go it alone when taking on its global rivals in the chip manufacture wars. Its closest rivals are arguably TSMC, which produces the bulk of the chips for the iPhone, and Qualcomm, which recently announced that it would purchase #NXP Semiconductor for $47 billion.

https://www.engadget.com/2016/11/01/samsung-spends-1-billion-to-strengthen-us-chip-production/

Qualcomm just announced the biggest chip acquisition ever

The smartphone world is starting to slow, and the companies that make the chips that go inside them are teaming up to stave off dwindling profits. Perhaps that's why #Qualcomm today announced that it's picking up #NXPSemiconductor for $47 billion, in what is set to become the biggest ever semiconductor deal. While NXP does make smartphone chips -- it makes the NFC payment chips and once supplied Apple's motion co-processors inside the iPhone -- the company has a huge presence in the automotive, security and Internet of Things industries. In fact, in its disclosure of the deal, NXP boasts that it powers 14 of the 15 most-popular vehicle infotainment consoles. Qualcomm has expanded into similar markets but has found things slow going. The acquisition is all about consolidating efforts, ensuring the merged company will dominate semiconductor markets on a number of different fronts. "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," says Steve Mollenkopf, CEO of Qualcomm.
https://www.engadget.com/2016/10/27/qualcomm-just-announced-the-biggest-chip-acquisition-ever/

The Corporate Confidence of the AT&T-Time Warner Deal

By many measures, this should be a moment of great economic uncertainty for the corporate world. The United States election looms. Interest rates are set to rise soon. Britain plans to leave the European Union. China’s economic growth is slowing. Cyberattacks are on the rise. And Russia is flexing its military muscle in the Middle East. Any one of these factors would usually be enough to give chief executives pause. The men and women who run the world’s largest corporations are nothing if not cautious. Yet across industries, there are surprising signs of confidence, with corporate chieftains and directors signaling their belief that the upswing will continue for months or even years to come. Investors are betting on sustained growth. Companies are hiring. And huge mergers and acquisitions are back in fashion. On Saturday night, #AT&T said it planned to acquire Time Warner for $85.4 billion — the biggest deal of the year. On Friday, British American Tobacco offered $47 billion for the portion of Reynolds American that it does not already own. And this week, the chip maker #Qualcomm is expected to make a $37 billion offer for the rival company #NXP Semiconductors. Such megadeals are often postponed during times of political or economic uncertainty. Yet at what feels to many like a tumultuous moment for the global economy, many corporate titans apparently see smooth sailing ahead.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/10/24/business/dealbook/att-time-warner-deal-confidence.html?referer=https://www.google.com/