[kirillseva]

I'd speculate that top management was aware of the physics limitations to their biggest market advantage, and they probably even had a timeline for when the competition is going to inevitably catch up. So they must have been spending their billions on something that's going to keep the company afloat in XXI century.

Maybe quantum computing, neuromorphic chips, GPGPU and 3D NAND are where it's at for them in the future, and traditional CPUs will be more or less commoditized.