Unfortunately, this sort of consolidation is a common trend in uC land. As fixed costs keep going up, so do the barriers to entry and the tendency to consolidate more and more. No different than the auto or aviation industry, for example.
That's not to say that you can't go it alone (for-hire, external fab houses make it possible) but your product has to have some pretty impressive margins, your customers have to be aware of and clamoring for the product, etc. Plus, buyouts tend to make management rich, ditching long term growth for short term profit.