Qualcomm, the chip maker whose business is built almost entirely around processors and radios for mobile applications, is reportedly making a run at buying NXP, which pretty much owns the NFC chip business.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that a deal could come before the end of the year. NXP is a public company with a current market capitalization of $28 billion; its stock jumped about 12 percent after the news broke.
The Netherlands-based NXP is the world’s biggest manufacturer of semiconductors for the automotive market. It also dominates the market for near-field communications chips, which are used to power payment systems in smartphones and wearables. The advantages of owning those markets are obvious for Qualcomm.