One indication of the impact of this reduction was the void created
in technology sponsorship funding for the equipment suppliers. When
IBM cut back its funding for new-generation equipment, the equipment
companies came to Intel and asked what they should do to get money
to develop the next-generation equipment. In the past, Intel had gotten
its processes up and running ahead of IBM and AT&T, though Intel
did not receive the equipment at the same time that the sponsor companies
received it. Now the equipment suppliers were looking to Intel
to fill the void.