2016 has been the year which generated tectonic shifts in the technology world. There were major changes in the tech industry with several merger and acquisition (M&A) deals taking place.

TechRadar India has compiled a list of the top seven M&A deals that took place in the year 2016.

1. Dell acquired EMC
The landmark acquisition of EMC by Dell was done on September 7, while creating Dell Technologies (World’s Largest Privately-Controlled Tech Company) more than $70 billion. Dell, privately-held global IT behemoth based in Round Rock—Texas, dominating the different consumer markets from budget PCs to high-end data center infrastructure and the cloud.

What’s expected out of the acquisition?

The merger between Dell and EMC is a response to overall declining markets in both Dell’s and EMC’s core businesses as current technology concentration is towards mobile devices, lower-margin hardware, servers and storage used in cloud computing. This M&A deal would provide an advantage of complementary strengths in sales.

2. Verizon acquires Yahoo
There was a time when yahoo was one of the biggest companies in the social internet business, a $125 billion behemoth. However, the email based internet service sold off its core operating business to Verizon for 4.8 billion in cash.

What’s expected out of the acquisition?

According to a statement by Verizon Chairman and CEO Lowell McAdam -- “The acquisition of Yahoo will put Verizon in a highly competitive position as a top global mobile media company, and help accelerate our revenue stream in digital advertising.”

3. Samsung acquires Harman
Samsung struck a massive deal by acquiring HARMAN for an approximate $8billion, which is a significant move by the South Korean smartphone giant. Harman is known for their audio brands, the company earns around two third of its revenues from automotive-related segments where it produces telematics, security and ‘embedded infotainment’ solutions.

What’s expected out of the acquisition?

Samsung was already working on automotive electronics, and suggests that this move is targeted to increase an automotive focused acquisition, than 2015’s Apple’s acquisition of Beats. With the deal Samsung is aiming to diversify its options, and specifically at the time when auto motive industry is booming.

4. Microsoft acquires LinkedIn
Microsoft officially closed its $26.2 billion acquisition of professional networking site LinkedIn on December 8, marking the largest acquisition in Microsoft's history. LinkedIn which was founded on December 28, 2002 has now more than 467 million accounts.

What’s expected out of the acquisition?

According to Mary Shea, Principal analyst at Forrester – “It's a great deal because it's taking the rich data insights and analytics that LinkedIn is gathering from their users on a daily basis; Microsoft will have the ability to marry that data with customer relationship management data, gaining a single view of the customer with Microsoft Dynamics.”

5. Fitbit acquires Pebble
Fitbit, one of the leading fitness band makers acquired software assets from struggling smartwatch startup Pebble Technology. Fitbit didn’t disclose the terms of acquisition but the price is expected less than $40 million.

What’s expected out of the acquisition?

Fitbit’s move to acquire Pebble seems to not make much sense as the wearables market is facing a rough time, but the company will help Fitbit have a better understanding about acquiring talent, software and smartwatch platform.

6. Incipio acquires Skullcandy
Skullcandy confirmed that it would be acquired by private-equity firm Mill Road Capital Management at a deal value of $ 196.6 million. Incipio which was founded in 1999, is focused on delivering mobile device accessories and solutions.

What’s expected out of the acquisition?

As reported by The Verge, the deal won't erase the Skullcandy brand identity. However, you might see Skullcandy devices having a facelift in coming days.

7. Oracle acquires NetSuite
Oracle struck a deal (of $741.1 million) to acquire cloud application company NetSuite, gaining access to the San Mateo, Calif.-based company's cloud ERP, CRM and ecommerce applications.

What’s expected out of the acquisition?

The deal can help Oracle capture more businesses in smaller companies and compete better with upstart SaaS companies.