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    How Cellphone Chips Became a National-Security Concern

    Worries about Silicon Valley’s slipping control of wireless supply chain fuels U.S. review of Broadcom’s takeover attempt of Qualcomm

    The U.S. wireless industry is dominated by four major players: Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint. Now that just about everyone has a cellphone, each operator is looking for new ways to grow. But how did we go from the days of one giant landline monopoly to four competitive cell companies? Illustration: Shaumbe Wright/WSJ
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    The U.S. made clear this week that containing China’s growing clout in wireless technology is now a national-security priority. Telecommunications-industry leaders say such fears are justified—but question whether the government’s extraordinary intervention in a corporate takeover battle that doesn’t even involve a Chinese company will make a difference.

    The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., a panel that reviews foreign takeovers on national-security grounds, laid out this week a number of reasons why it was probing...