Employees at $93 billion Qualcomm brace for layoffs after Apple sparks a boardroom battle - it's straight out of 'Game of Thrones'

HBOLena Headey as Cersei Lannister.

• Chip maker Qualcomm is in a fight for its life, which will culminate during its March 6 shareholders meeting.
• Qualcomm's board members are fending off a hostile takeover by their rival Broadcom, which would be the largest tech merger in history.
• To fend off Broadcom's offers, Qualcomm has adopted a "poison pill" defense - basically, Qualcomm is paying more for major acquisition of its own, in the hopes of making itself less attractive to Broadcom.
• Meanwhile, Qualcomm's 34,000 worldwide employees are bracing for layoffs.
• And Apple created the conditions that caused all of this.

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Qualcomm, a chip manufacturer valued on the public markets at about $93 billion, is in a very strange fight for its life right now - and employees are worried that layoffs are not far off.

Broadcom, one of Qualcomm's chief rivals, has made several bids to buy the company. But the Qualcomm board has, so far, rejected those offers. On Wednesday, Broadcom made yet another offer - however, instead of increasing the price it was willing to pay, Broadcom lowered it, making it far less likely that Broadcom will win.