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dingo1018 t1_j9mnb8h wrote

I think it's referring to CMOS manufacturing processes isn't it? As in they don't have to sink billions into new fabrication tech rather it's materials science that current processes could adapt into established knowledge base, so like they didn't reinvent the wheel they just made better wheels?

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merlinsbeers t1_j9n1yf8 wrote

Yeah. It was a big thing in the 80s. If you could piggyback a CMOS manufacturer's process you could bootstrap a product line easily.

Now it's not that big a deal because the fab equipment manufacturers can deal with exotic processes, and leading edge processes are themselves extremely exotic compared to something generically CMOS.

It's like plugging a full-color display or automatic transmission. Kind of sad.

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