TSMC designed the semiconductor manufacturing process used by many leading chip designers but generally does not sell its own branded chips.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is the world's largest dedicated independent semiconductor foundry. It manufactures chips designed by companies such as Nvidia, Apple, AMD, and Qualcomm, allowing those firms to focus on architecture, software, and product development.
TSMC was founded in Taiwan in 1987 by Morris Chang. Its foundry model helped create the modern fabless semiconductor industry: design companies could outsource fabrication instead of building and operating their own extremely expensive factories.
TSMC does not fit the same business model as Intel, which historically designed and manufactured many of its own processors, or Nvidia, which designs chips and relies on manufacturing partners. TSMC's strategic importance and earnings growth have helped make it one of the most valuable companies in the world by market capitalization.