You don't think the fabless chip designers work closely with their foundry partners to do similar things?
LOL, wow, where to start.
The foundry wants its 35 or 40% GM and doesn't give a crap if you can only get $200 for an iPhone instead of $600. The same for yield. Ever see "Goodfellas"? They hit PCM spec then they're golden. If you have a marginal design well f*** you pay up. You got a packaging interaction issue well f*** you pay up. And so on.
A foundry has thousands of customers and most of them are on the n00b end of the spectrum. The design rules and methodologies are in bright primary colours and built with lots of cushioned foam for their protection.
At Intel the designers on the physical side of IC design are expected to juggle chainsaws and work hand in hand with process developers to learn how to do it properly. That is part of controlling your destiny.
You don't think the fabless chip designers work closely with their foundry partners to do similar things?
I've worked with them. You have to go to your manager who goes to his contact at the foundry who goes to your engineering counterpart then you wait in line to find out he doesn't quite understand your issue so it goes in a circle again.
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