Nevertheless, U.S. chip firms like Fairchild continued to dominate the cutting edge of chip production, such as its business related to corporate mainframe computers. Throughout the 1960s, Japanese firms paid sizeable licensing fees on intellectual property, handing over 4.5 percent of all chip sales to Fairchild, 3.5 percent to Texas Instruments, and 2 percent to Western Electric. U.S. chipmakers were happy to transfer their technology because Japanese firms appeared to be years behind. Sony’s expertise wasn’t in designing chips but devising consumer products and customizing the electronics
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