This has very little to do with design. This is about fabrication. GF, TSMC are purely fabrication, and do little to no design work internally. The chance that

This has very little to do with design. This is about fabrication. GF, TSMC are purely fabrication, and do little to no design work internally. The chance that any other company can emerge and compete with this group, at least with respect to silicon is zero. A new company would have to poach thousands of engineers, and raise billions. Most competitors have simply given up (TI, ST, etc). The only possibility of more competition in the space is if an upstart is able to emerge when the next generation materials/processes emerge. Maybe carbon. Otherwise, expect the number of fabs to go one direction: down.