TSMC, or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, was founded by Morris Chang in 1987 and became the leading dedicated contract chip manufacturer.
TSMC pioneered the pure-play foundry model. It manufactures chips designed by other companies while generally avoiding competition with those customers in selling its own branded processors. This arrangement lets firms such as Apple, NVIDIA, and AMD focus on chip design while TSMC concentrates on advanced production.
The company’s manufacturing scale and leading process technologies made it strategically important to the global electronics industry. Its factories are primarily in Taiwan, with additional investment and facilities in other regions.
TSMC is frequently confused with semiconductor designers such as NVIDIA or Qualcomm, and with integrated manufacturers such as Intel and Samsung. Its market capitalization reflects the importance of the foundry business, although stock values move with demand, technology cycles, and geopolitical expectations.