Well the two are not mutually exclusive. I worked there for close to 5 years on a few different silicon-related projects that I characterize as unique in the m

Well the two are not mutually exclusive. I worked there for close to 5 years on a few different silicon-related projects that I characterize as unique in the market and not a single one has even made it into an announced product. These were not small endeavors, so either the development times for silicon are extremely long or Intel cannot execute on its ideas. Regarding the former possibility, I heard from people who were around since the beginning that 3D XPoint was in development for a decade before it was announced in 2015.