Once upon a time the big companies decided that they would out-source more of their production, cut out basic R&D and follow very closely what their customers in the major markets wanted them to do.
Without fundamental R&D their products could not get ahead of their rivals' products; without their own manufacturing they couldn't cut their costs below the level of their rivals' costs; and their customers gave all their rivals the same product requirement so many companies were making similar products.
So prices went down.
And the companies found themselves making narrowly focussed, customised products in relatively small production runs which is out of line with the semiconductor industry's fundamental economics which favour large production runs of standard programmable parts.
So companies' margins went down.
And profits went down.
And share prices went down.
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