AMD and National Semiconductor are talking to IBM about sharing chip manufacturing facilities, according to reports from the US.

The moves would make sense for AMD and National, which owns Cyrix, as both have struggled to produce sufficient numbers of microprocessors in recent times. Poor yields have meant that Intel has continued its dominance in x86 chips despite the fact that its rivals arguably have their most competitive ranges ever.

IBM is thought to have significant over-capacity and has a current agreement to make wafers for Cyrix.

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