Broadcom's $103 billion bid for Qualcomm would rank as the biggest acquisition ever in the tech industry, if it goes through. Here's a look back at some other big deals:
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Dell bought EMC for $67 billion in 2016
Dell's deal for the data-storage company is the biggest one to date for the tech industry.
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Qualcomm agrees to buy NXP Semiconductors for $38 billion, October 2016
A big chip deal that is still being reviewed by regulators.
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Avago Technologies Ltd. buys Broadcom Corp. for $37 billion in 2016
Broadcom Ltd. became the parent company of Broadcom Corp. and Avago Technologies. By joining forces, the rival chipmakers hoped to make a bigger dent in the rapidly growing market for wireless devices.
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SoftBank, a Japanese tech and telecom giant, buys British chip company ARM for $32 billion in 2016
The deal brought together two companies with far-flung businesses in a bet on the "internet of things."
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Microsoft buys LinkedIn for $26 billion in 2016
The tech company bought up the professional networking service in its largest-ever acquisition.
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Facebook buys WhatsApp for about $22 billion in 2014
The social media company expanded its messaging capabilities with this purchase.
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Hewlett-Packard Co. buys Compaq for about $19 billion in 2002
This deal helped establish HP's largest maker of personal computers for many years, but the dominance of smartphones have dented PC sales. HP has split into two companies, one focused on serving businesses and the other on the selling of PCs and printers.
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Symantec Corp. buys Veritas for about $13.5 billion in 2005
The security software company expanded its storage software capabilities with the buyout. The deal was a mismatch, and Symantec sold Veritas for $8 billion.
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Hewlett-Packard Co. buys Electronic Data Systems for about $13 billion in 2008
The computer maker aimed to bolster its technology consulting services, but HP has had trouble retaining customers. After HP's 2015 split, EDS became part of HP Enterprises. The former EDS operations were sold as part of an $8.5 billion deal to Computer Sciences Corp. in 2017.
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Google Inc. buys Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. for $12 billion in 2012
The internet company primarily bought Motorola for its portfolio of 17,000 mobile patents, but Google also inherited an unprofitable division that made smartphones. After losing more than $2 billion in less than two years, Google sold Motorola's smartphone business to the Lenovo Group for $2.9 billion and held on to the patents. Google had previously sold a Motorola division that makes television set-top boxes to the Arris Group for $2.35 billion.
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Oracle Corp. buys PeopleSoft for $11 billion in 2005
The purchase of the maker of human resources software turned Oracle in to a more formidable rival to SAP in the market for business management applications.
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Hewlett-Packard buys Autonomy for about $10 billion in 2011
The computer maker aimed to bolster its software and services offerings with the buyout, but this deal blew up quickly amid allegations that Autonomy had misled HP about its sales. Hewlett Packard Enterprise sold off software assets, including Autonomy, in 2017 in an $8.8 billion deal.
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Microsoft Corp. buys Skype for about $8.5 billion in 2011
The software company bolstered its online video calling technology.
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Oracle Corp. buys Sun Microsystems for $7 billion in 2010
The buyout gave Oracle ownership of the Java programming language and catapulted the software company into the hardware business.
Explore further: Beyond Microsoft and LinkedIn: Biggest tech acquisitions
