A lot of it is the big customers can go to a chip company and say "I want this SOC, with X, Y, and Z" - and if they want enough of them, will actually be able t

A lot of it is the big customers can go to a chip company and say "I want this SOC, with X, Y, and Z" - and if they want enough of them, will actually be able to get them at a reasonable price. I read this is why Qualcomm did their data center chip - some of the big Chinese companies wanted it.