Over the last decade, various players in the semiconductor industry have been getting acquired in bids to consolidate the market. One specific type of chip drew significant attention: field programmable gate arrays, or FPGAs -- a chip type with growing relevance because it's used in the semiconductor design process, artificial intelligence (AI) system designs in data centers, and in industrial and consumer electronics.

Software also features prominently in FPGAs, since it is used to program (or customize) those chips for the specific uses customers require.

In 2015, Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) acquired Altera, a major FPGA player, for nearly $17 billion. And in 2022, AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) purchased FPGA pioneer and leader Xilinx for nearly $50 billion in an all-stock deal that completely transformed its business.

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Source Fool.com