The biggest acquisition deals in the tech sector

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:

• HEWLETT-PACKARD BUYS COMPAQ - SEPTEMBER 2001
  US technology giant Hewlett-Packard buys Compaq Computer for $25 billion in a bid to compete with IBM.

• FACEBOOK BUYS WHATSAPP - FEBRUARY 2014
  The 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 2011
  Internet 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.

• HEWLETT-PACKARD BUYS AUTONOMY - AUGUST 2011
  US 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 2011
  Microsoft buys Internet voice and video leader Skype for $8.5 billion, the largest acquisition ever by the US software giant.

• ORACLE BUYS SUN - APRIL 2009
  US business software giant Oracle buys struggling Sun Microsystems and its Java programming language for $7.4 billion.

• MICROSOFT BUYS NOKIA - SEPTEMBER 2013
  Microsoft 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 2007
  Microsoft 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 2014
  Google 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 2008
  The Internet titan seals the deal on its purchase of online ad tracking firm DoubleClick for $3.1 billion.

• FACEBOOK BUYS OCULUS - MARCH 2014
  Facebook announces a $2 billion deal to buy Oculus, a start-up behind virtual reality headgear.

• GOOGLE BUYS YOUTUBE - OCTOBER 2006
  Internet 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 2002
  Online auction house eBay buys online payments firm PayPal for $1.5 billion.

• YAHOO BUYS TUMBLR - MAY 2013
  Former 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 2012
  Facebook offers $1 billion for hot smartphone photo-sharing service Instagram. The purchase of Instagram was Facebook's largest until the WhatsApp deal.