The term originally meant the innovators and manufacturers of silicon chip who worked here , but now means all the high tech businesses in the area . Even though it 's not truly a valley , it is a term for the high-tech sector generally . The term originally referred to the region 's large number of silicon chip innovators and manufacturers , but eventually came to refer to all the high-tech businesses in the area ; it is now generally used as a metonym for the American high-tech sector .