Forget about advanced 3D, there is no way (and no reason) to compete with the 3D chips developers.
Au Contraire.
3D chip vendors have stopped innovating, and the quality of products is starting to show. My now 4-year old Kyro II renders scenes that look better than my brand-new Radeon.
You can also license a core, such as the PowerVR or 3DLabs to include in such a chipset. So you get a brand-new chipset while not the R&D effort needed to develop a 3D.
So the best of both worlds.