TSMC, or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, is the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry.
A foundry manufactures chips designed by other companies rather than primarily selling chips under its own consumer brand. TSMC produces semiconductors for customers including major designers of smartphone processors, graphics processors, and artificial-intelligence accelerators. This model lets chip designers focus on architecture while relying on specialized manufacturing capacity.
TSMC was founded in Taiwan in 1987 by Morris Chang. Its business helped establish the modern “fabless” semiconductor industry, in which companies such as Nvidia and Qualcomm design chips but outsource much of the physical production.
TSMC’s importance to global technology markets comes from its advanced manufacturing processes and enormous capital investment. Its stock-market value is affected by smartphone demand, AI-chip orders, manufacturing yields, geopolitical risk, and the cost of building fabs.