Obtaining consent from a competition watchdog will bring Qualcomm a step closer to acquiring NXP and strengthening their position against Broadcom who wants to acquire them for US $ 130 billion.
The source said that the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) is expected to grant Qualcomm's acquisition permit for NXP shortly, the source said. "The European Commission is expected to do the same in the near future."
JFTC did not reply when asked to comment via email. The European Commission, which has set March 15 as a limit on whether Qualcomm will get permission to acquire NXP.
Qualcomm is the chip supplier for Android-based smartphone maker and also Apple. They also want to be leaders in the chip industry for cars that are now growing. For that they want to acquire NXP which is the largest semiconductor companies in the industry.
Qualcomm has agreed not to purchase NXP essential standard patents and will not sue third parties for NXP's Near Field Communication (NFC) patent, except for self-defense purposes. In addition, they will also let competitor products use NXP products.
