EEngr,
I agree with you completely, but that's not what the article(s) say about this chip.
It's just a $9 replacement for a Raspberry Pi.
It's smaller, based on pictures, but looks to have the same connections etc.
Why am I going on about this?
Because I can already get Raspberry Pi and Arduino boards for $9 to $30, and use them in projects, and wonder how this $9 chip is going to make any difference in the market.
I would like to see a chip that does what you say, and puts some of the common devices on the main board, but then it's not a computer chip, but rather a special application chip.