Apple buys Beats for $3 billion: A look at some biggest tech deals

Apple's purchase of Beats Music and Beats Electronics in a deal worth $3 billion is one of the largest acquisitions ever in the technology sector.Here are some other notable deals involving US tech companies, in order of dollar amount from largest to smallest: HP buys Compaq - September 2001US technology giant Hewlett-Packard buys Compaq Computer for $25 billion in a bid to compete with IBM. Facebook buys WhatsApp - February 2014The world's biggest social network Facebook bets big on mobile with an eye-popping cash-and-stock deal worth up to $19 billion for smartphone messaging service WhatsApp. Regulators have yet to green light the deal. Google buys Motorola Mobility - August 2011Internet search giant Google buys the handset business of Motorola for $12.5 billion in a bid to challenge Apple in the smartphone market. Less than three years later, Google sold Motorola to China's Lenovo for $2.91 billion. HP buys Autonomy - August 2011US technology giant Hewlett-Packard buys British enterprise software company Autonomy for $10.24 billion. US authorities later open an investigation amid HP accusations that Autonomy had engaged in "accounting improprieties." Microsoft buys Skype - May 2011Microsoft buys Internet voice and video leader Skype for $8.5 billion, the largest acquisition ever by the US software giant. Oracle buys Sun - April 2009US business software giant Oracle buys struggling Sun Microsystems and its Java programming language for $7.4 billion. Microsoft buys Nokia - September 2013Microsoft buys the handset business of former market leader Nokia for $7.2 billion in an effort to catch up to rivals Apple and Google in the smartphone market. Microsoft buys aQuantive - May 2007Microsoft pays $6 billion for online advertising firm aQuantive. At the time, the price is deemed too high. Five years later, the tech giant takes a $6.2 billion writedown to reflect the slump in value of its online services division, largely related to the aQuantive deal. Google buys Nest Labs - January 2014Google says it is buying smart thermostat start-up Nest in a deal valued at $3.2 billion, continuing its move into consumer electronics hardware. Google buys DoubleClick- March 2008The Internet titan seals the deal on its purchase of online ad tracking firm DoubleClick for $3.1 billion. Facebook buys Oculus - March 2014Facebook announces a $2 billion deal to buy Oculus, a start-up behind virtual reality headgear. Google buys Youtube - October 2006Internet search giant Google buys online video platform YouTube in October 2006 from its founders, Steve Chen and Chad Hurley, for $1.65 billion. Ebay buys PayPal - June 2002Online auction house eBay buys online payments firm PayPal for $1.5 billion. Yahoo buys Tumblr - May 2013Former Google executive Marissa Mayer makes her biggest purchase since taking over as CEO of Yahoo, buying the popular blogging platform Tumblr for $1.1 billion. Facebook buys Instagram- April 2012Facebook offers $1 billion for hot smartphone photo-sharing service Instagram. The purchase of Instagram was Facebook's largest until the WhatsApp deal. AFP