Semiconductor consolidation

The process at which most of these intricate chips are being produced at is called photolithography, and the cost of equipment and operating them has grown astronomically, resulting in an inevitable consolidation of semiconductor companies.

Companies like Xilinx and Western Design Center were pioneers and the first to realize the practicality of not having to sustain a fabrication plant model.

As costs continued to grow and competition grew fierce, resources could not be focused on maintaining a business model that had to sustain research and production.

These fabs, commonly referred to as foundries, were able to update assembly and photolithography systems much more easily than their counterparts as all they focused on is handling bulk orders that come from these fabless businesses.

This also meant many compatible companies ended up being takeover targets in order to strengthen relationships and help the businesses' bottom line.

The partnership and resulting new venture, called GlobalFoundries Inc., gave AMD an infusion of cash and allowed the company to focus solely on chip design.

[citation needed] In 2000, Sony Computer Entertainment, Toshiba Corporation, and IBM teamed up to design and manufacture the Cell processor.

However, companies such as Intel, IBM, and Toshiba will be able to survive on their own as they are currently market leaders in the microprocessors, servers, and memory fields (in that order).