Massive chip consolidation wave is changing semiconductor industry

A wave of mergers and acquisitions is reshaping Silicon Valley’s semiconductor industry as companies join forces to shoulder the soaring technology costs required to stay competitive.
Half a dozen chipmakers in Silicon Valley, including a few storied names, have changed hands in less than two years in nearly $12 billion in mergers and acquisitions affecting thousands of employees and costing some their jobs. In one merger 1,600 people are being laid off.
“The net winners are investors. The net losers are the employees who lose their jobs,” said Betsy van Hees, an analyst with Wedbush Securities.
In the biggest deal yet, Singapore-based Avago Technologies, which bought Silicon Valley’s LSI a year ago, announced Thursday that it will acquire Broadcom, an Irvine-based chip maker and major supplier of integrated circuits for the mobile phone industry, for $37 billion in a cash and stock deal. The acquisition will create a $77 billion company, Avago said. While it is incorporated in Singapore, Avago – a spinoff of Hewlett-Packard’s semiconductor operation that went public in 2009 – says it is “co-headquartered” in San Jose.
Read more at: Phys.org