TSMC was founded in Taiwan in 1987 by Morris Chang.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company was established in Hsinchu, Taiwan, in 1987 under the leadership of Morris Chang. Its defining innovation was the dedicated foundry model: manufacturing chips designed by other companies rather than competing primarily through its own branded processors.
This arrangement allowed customers to outsource fabrication while retaining control over chip architecture and product design. TSMC became a crucial supplier to companies developing advanced processors for smartphones, data centers, graphics, and artificial intelligence.
Its market value rose with demand for increasingly sophisticated chips and the capital required to produce them. TSMC is not the same kind of business as a fabless designer such as Nvidia or a diversified electronics manufacturer such as Samsung. The distinction between chip design and chip fabrication is central to understanding its role in the semiconductor industry.