[brennanpeterson]

It is?

A factory makes transistors ,and if you increase a 'node', you make twice as much. If you do an amazing job, you might reduce cost 10%.

So by far the best way to maximize value in semiconductors is to enable shrink.

But you also just don't hear it in the popular or even engineering press. Most manufacturers and designers look at a PPAC curve (power, performance, area, cost) and find optimal design points.

As for spreading it out: the unit of production isn't a wafer, it is a lithographic field, which is roughly 25*35mm. You cant practically 'speead out' much more (ok, you sort of can with field stitching, but that is really expensive).