The semiconductor industry has long been a game for titans.
The going rate for a chip factory is about $3 billion. The facilities typically take years to build. And the microscopic size of chip circuitry requires engineering that nearly defies the laws of physics.
Over the decades, legions of companies have found themselves reeling, even wiped out financially, after trying to produce some of the most complex objects made by man for the lowest possible prices.
Now, the chip wars are about to get even more bloody. In this next phase, the manufacturers will be fighting to supply the silicon for one of the fastest-growing segments of computing: smartphones, tiny laptops and tablet-style devices.
The fight pits several big chip companies — each trying to put its own stamp on the same basic design for mobile chips — against Intel, the dominant maker of PC chips, which is using an entirely different design to enter a segment of the market in which it has a minuscule presence.
Consumers are likely to benefit from the battle, which should increase competition and innovation, according to industry players. But it will be costly to the chip manufacturers.
“I worry about that,” said Ian Drew, an executive vice president at ARM Holdings, which owns the rights to the core chip design used in most smartphones and licenses that technology to manufacturers. “But ultimately, these chip makers are all pushing each other and, if one falls over, there are still two or three left.”
Intel, based in Santa Clara, California, has long been held up as the gold standard for ultraefficient, advanced chip manufacturing plants. The company is the last remaining mainstream chip maker to design and build its products, which go into the vast majority of the personal computers and servers sold each year.
Most other chips, for everything from cars to…