TSMC was founded in 1987 as a dedicated semiconductor foundry.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company was established in Hsinchu, Taiwan, by Morris Chang. Its business model separated chip design from chip manufacturing: customers could create processors without owning and operating their own fabrication plants.
That model became increasingly important as chip designs grew more complex and fabrication plants became extraordinarily expensive. TSMC manufactures chips designed by companies such as Apple, Nvidia, and AMD, making it a central part of the global technology supply chain.
TSMC’s market capitalization reflects both its manufacturing scale and its strategic position in advanced semiconductors. It is different from Nvidia, which designs GPUs and other chips, and from Intel, which historically combined chip design and manufacturing within one company.