While the 6502 began to take over the 6800's market, Intel was experiencing the same problem when the upstart Zilog Z80 began to steal sales from the Intel 8080. Both Motorola and Intel began new design cycles to leapfrog those designs. This process led Intel to begin the design of a series of 16-bit processors, which emerged as the Intel 8086 in 1978. Motorola also began the design of a similar high-end design, in the MACSS project, but also decided to produce a greatly improved but compatible 8-bit designs that became the 6809.