Qualcomm says that if there’s no approval on Wednesday it will not seek an extension to the approvals process.

Qualcomm will have to pay NXP a $2 billion break-up fee if the China approval isn’t forthcoming.

Qualcomm has a $40 billion cash mountain and has promised to use most of  it to buy back shares if the deal doesn’t go through.

This will please shareholders because the stock is down 8% this year and, if it goes down this year, will have fallen for three years running.

Qualcomm is struggling on several fronts: big handset makers are using their own silicon instead of Qualcomm’s; national regulators around the world are investigating its licensing practices; it is locked in a lawsuit with Apple over its licensing practices, and ex-chairman Paul Jacobs is preparing a takeover bid.