Molex provides Apple with products like multimedia connectors, or as they’re more commonly known: “Firewires.”

Molex creates electronic parts like connectors, fiber-optic products, antennas and sockets for a variety of verticals including data and computing, telcos and automotive. The company reported gross profitability at more than $1.06 billion in 2013, down half a percentage point from 2012. With the deal struck, Molex joins the Koch Industries portfolio, which already includes Georgia-Pacific LLC, The Matador Cattle Company, and more resource-based ventures bearing the Koch name like Koch Minerals, LLC and Koch Pipeline Company, LP.

Koch Industries and Molex share similar origin stories, as Koch Industries is led by brothers David and Charles Koch and Molex, until recently, was owned and operated by the Krehbiel family.

Per the deal, Koch now owns all Molex’s outstanding common, Class A, and Class B stock––and laid down a pretty penny more for the shares than they traded for the previous Friday. (Stocks of the common, A and B variety are distinguished by associated voting rights.) According to the release, Koch dropped capital at a 42 percent equity increase (up 31 percent for common stock, 56 percent for Class A common stock). Obviously, premiums make deals more appealing to investors (get a brush-up here.)

It is widely accepted that most companies are merged with a premium over their stock value, around 20%. Molex, with 42 percent, seems in line with recent acquisitions which according to pundits and financial sources are higher in 2013 than usual.

Molex reports net revenues at 3.6 billion worldwide in 2013, 3.8 percent more than last year. The company, based in Lisle, IL, chose this moment for acquisition to reward longtime supporters and employees. “After 75 years this was a difficult decision, but our board of directors and our family believe that this transaction…provides outstanding benefits for all our stakeholders,” said Fred Krehbiel, co-chairman of the Molex board in the release. “The transaction is expected to provide substantial opportunities for our worldwide employees, many of whom have spent much of their working lives at Molex and are responsible for the company’s long term success.” Following the deal, the Krehbiels will give up their stock and positions and leave the company to Koch.

The news makes no mention of future product releases or jumps into new sectors––only of a continued “track record of growth and investment in people, innovation and technology,” says Martin Slark, CEO and vice chairman of Molex in the release.

Documents Molex filed with the SEC say the company’s sales to Apple account for 14 percent of net revenue in 2013, though they’re not Apple’s only connector provider. Risks to the business, also listed in the papers, provide clues to reasons for an acquisition now. According to the company, Molex faces intense competition, industry consolidation, a dependency on new products and pressure to lower prices.

Though its hard to imagine an electronic parts producer struggling in a digital age, the industry brings its own challenges. And a partnership with Koch could give Molex room to work, so that they won’t have to innovate under the gun (and on the cheap) in a capital-intensive and crowded industry. “Connector Supplier” ranks Molex third on the top 10 list of connector manufacturers, as it pulled more than $3.5 billion in sales two years running (2011-2012). In past months, the industry’s looked a little bleak; but hopefuls wait for a 4.4 percent overall connector sales increase before end of full year 2013.

As the Krehbiels bow out, the Kochs are poised to take Molex to new heights. Though Molex has already scaled international (they have 41 manufacturing locations in 15 countries; and just, 29 percent of its 2013 net revenues stem from the Americas), Koch Industries’ money, resources and guidance will help further penetrate their markets. Currently, Molex has captured about 8 percent of the connector industry: a number they’re looking to increase.

“Once the transaction is completed, Molex will be even better positioned to navigate an evolving industry,” the company said in an employee FAQ about the deal. “With Koch behind us, we will be able to protect and grow our market share, ensure continuity for customers, provide growth opportunities for our employees, and maintain the overall stability of the business.”

Implications of the deal may affect Apple on the political, rather than technological, front. Already, news sources have penned headlines that poke at Koch Industries’ leadership’s politics; yesterday, the Daily Beast ran an article titled, “Get Ready to Support the Kochs, Liberal Apple Fans.”

As to business, it’s going on as usual for now, Molex says. Until the year’s out and the deal’s closed, “we need all employees to remain focused on their day-to-day responsibilities,” the employee FAQ states.

The first quarter of 2013 alone saw India’s smartphone adoption grow an impressive 163 percent, four times faster than the global average of 39 percent. India also outpaces the rest of the world in year over year sales, with China at 86 percent, Japan at 24 percent, and the US at 19 percent.

The research firm credits better distribution networks from major players like Apple and Samsung for the surge. Local marketers such as Micromax, an Indian mobile company using an Android OEM, also spur that growth.

India’s growth in smartphone adoption is hardly surprising considering its vast population, a growing middleclass, and an increasing popularity of consumer electronics in the country boosted by rising incomes.

As companies like Apple and Samsung reach saturation in American and European markets, emerging economies like India are an enticing opportunity. Total smartphone shipments in Western Europe, for example, have dropped 4.2 percent year on year at 43.6 million units, according to recent figures from an IDC analyst. Apple in particular has suffered in the European market, dropping from 25 percent to 20 percent in the first quarter of 2013. In India, however, its market is growing, reaching a 15.6 percent share in the fourth quarter of 2012, thanks to a more localized distribution strategy.

At the same time, domestic players are outpacing global brands in the Indian market, Strategy Analytics points out. Local providers such as Micromax, Karbonn and Spice have all experienced growth rates between 200 to 500 percent annually. Microvendors like Lemon Mobile, which deal mostly in Android phones, have seen sales jump by as much as 1,000 percent.

“The smartphone boom is well underway. India is now a country no major smartphone vendor, component maker or apps developer can ignore”, the report concluded.

The research firm predicted China will reach 20.7 percent of the world’s smartphone market this year, just ahead of the US’s 20.6 percent. While previous research had shown China taking the lead but then falling behind, IDC maintains this latest trend will only continue to snowball. By 2016, China is expected to leverage 20.2 percent of the global smartphone market, while the US will garner 15.3 percent.

“(China’s) smartphone shipments are expected to take a slim lead over the U.S. in 2012 before the gap widens in the coming years,” said Wong Tech Zhung, senior market analyst with IDC’s Asia/Pacific Client Devices team, in a statement. “There will be no turning back this leadership changeover.”

Meanwhile, India and Brazil are expected to be among the top 5 hottest smartphone markets by 2016, with India growing from its current position at seventh to become the third largest market, followed by Brazil, which currently ranks tenth.

The trends are clearly showing developing countries connecting to the Internet via the palm of your hand. The sheer size of these populations combined with a thirst for smarter technology creates a perfect storm of demand that will be close to rivaling the US.

“Demand for smartphones will also grow as urban and enterprise users mature in their handset preferences and usage,” says G. Rajeev, senior market analyst for mobile devices with IDC India. “Consumers are growing accustomed to higher data usage and using handsets for entertainment and other content, instead of just as a communication device.”

Yet costs will continue to be a challenge to these developing markets. The report notes that numerous industry heads at this year’s Mobile Conference in Barcelona stressed the need for affordable smartphones as low as $50 US to propel saturation. In Brazil, smartphones have dropped to below $300 with optional prepaid data plans, propelling the market with room to grow.

“Users in emerging markets seek more than simple voice telephony, and smartphones offer the ideal platform for mobile entertainment, social networking, and business usage as seen in developed markets,” said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC.

Remember, there was a decent amount of buzz when T-Mobile sold 1 million iPhones to US subscribers. China’s blowing that out of the water, despite the fact that its 3G network can’t even support the iPhone’s infrastructure, which has been the primary reason China Mobile has given for not selling the iPhone.

Its 15 million iPhone users jailbreaked their phones to use the service, despite the downgrade to 2G due to incompatibility.

China Mobile claims the incompatibility will be remedied following completion of LTE network testing this June, the Next Web reported.

Despite the popularity of jailbroken iPhones, Apple has dropped to fifth place in the Chinese mobile market share, according to a Gartner study.

Apple is set to end its exclusive deal to sell the iPhone with China Unicom, with China Telecom opening sales of the iPhone 4S later this week.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley predict that China Mobile could sell 60 million more iPhones by the end of 2013. With the largest number of subscribers of any teleco in the world at 655 million, the number of China Mobile iPhone fans will likely become exponential, once the country has a network in place that can fully take advantage of the phone’s potential.