It could also attract interest from other large semiconductor companies such as Broadcom and Texas Instruments Inc ( TXN.O ), analysts have said. Qualcomm, which supplies Android smartphone makers and Apple Inc ( AAPL.O ), has been dealing with slowing smartphone sales and stiff competition from Chinese and Taiwanese rivals. Qualcomm has so far sat out the transformative consolidation sweeping the industry, which has seen mega-deals such as Avago ( AVGO.O ) buying Broadcom for $37 billion last year. Qualcomm gets the bulk of its revenue from chip sales but most of its profit comes from wireless patents it licenses to the mobile industry. It explored a plan to break up its chip business from its patent licensing unit after pressure from activist investor Jana Partners but decided to remain whole.