TSMC is one of the world's most valuable semiconductor companies. What does the acronym TSMC stand for?

TSMC stands for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.

The company was founded in Taiwan in 1987 by Morris Chang. Its major innovation was to specialize in manufacturing chips designed by other companies, rather than competing directly with customers by designing its own branded processors.

This foundry model became central to the semiconductor industry. Companies such as Apple, Nvidia, and AMD can design chips while relying on specialist manufacturers to produce them. TSMC's advanced process technologies and enormous fabrication capacity helped make it one of the world's most valuable listed companies.

TSMC is also commonly called Taiwan Semiconductor or simply TSMC. The “M” refers to Manufacturing, distinguishing the company from semiconductor designers that outsource fabrication.