Broadcom bid marks upheaval in chip industry

The California-based chip maker offer made an unsolicited $105 billion takeover bid for Qualcomm

Broadcom Ltd made an unsolicited $105 billion takeover bid for Qualcomm Inc., the chip industry’s boldest bet yet that size will equal strength at a time of technological upheaval.

The approach, which would mark the biggest technology takeover ever, shows how tech companies are positioning themselves for a world where a range of chip-driven devices—from phones to cars to factory robots—are transmitting, receiving and processing evermore information.

Broadcom Chief Executive Hock Tan already has used acquisitions to build the company into the fourth-biggest chip maker by market value, part of a wave of industry consolidation as profits on some chips,