Well, most of us want more function for less cost.
Circuits continue to decrease in size while function continues to increase.
In the 27 years between 1971 and 1998, the number of transistors on a microprocessor chip has increased by a factor of over 3000, and the execution speed has increased by a factor of 10,000. In the 14 years between 1998 and 2012, it is predicted that the number of transistors and the execution speed will increase by factors of 133 and 167 respectively. Continuous improvements have become a fact of life and, in fact, a necessity for those companies wanting to remain competitive in the semiconductor industry. Within all major semiconductor fabs, including IBM Microelectronics, process improvements and new tool qualifications are completed on a regular basis to maintain this pace of change. The types of change involved can be placed into two categories.