I'm sure the chipped key is an attempt to cut down on theft, but from everything I've read professional car thieves always find a way around this stuff. I suppose it at least stops the old technique of popping out the ignition ring and starting the vehicle with a screwdriver.
Where I live F150s are the most popular truck to steal, and they're usually across the Mexican border an hour after they're stolen. Once the ignition improvements came along they started pulling the trucks onto a flatbed and driving them away. You sure don't need a key to do that.