Which company operates the TSMC semiconductor foundries and became the world's largest contract chipmaker?

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company operates the foundries that made it the world’s largest contract chipmaker.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, commonly called TSMC, manufactures chips designed by other companies rather than mainly selling chips under its own consumer brand. This business model is known as a dedicated semiconductor foundry. It allows firms such as Nvidia, Apple, and AMD to design processors without owning comparable manufacturing plants.

TSMC was founded in Taiwan in 1987 by Morris Chang. Its rise helped create the modern separation between chip design and chip fabrication. The company invested heavily in advanced process technologies and large fabrication plants, or fabs, giving it a major role in producing high-performance processors.

TSMC is sometimes mistaken for a chip designer like Nvidia or AMD. Those companies develop important chip architectures and products, while TSMC primarily manufactures designs supplied by customers. Because leading-edge chips are crucial to smartphones, servers, and AI systems, investors often include TSMC among the world’s most valuable semiconductor companies.