TSMC is the world’s largest contract semiconductor manufacturer, also called a pure-play foundry.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company was founded in 1987 by Morris Chang in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Its business model focuses on manufacturing chips designed by other companies rather than selling processors primarily under its own consumer brand.
This foundry model allowed firms such as Apple, Nvidia, and AMD to design advanced chips while outsourcing production. TSMC invests heavily in fabrication plants and process technology, making its manufacturing capacity strategically important to the global technology industry.
A frequent confusion is between TSMC and Samsung Electronics. Samsung both designs and manufactures many products, whereas TSMC is especially identified with contract chip fabrication. TSMC’s shares trade in Taiwan, and its American depositary receipts trade in the United States.