Which semiconductor foundry, founded in 1987 by Morris Chang, is commonly abbreviated TSMC?

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, founded in 1987 by Morris Chang, is commonly abbreviated TSMC.

TSMC pioneered the dedicated semiconductor foundry model. Instead of designing chips mainly under its own consumer brand, it manufactures integrated circuits designed by other companies. This division of labor allowed chip designers to avoid owning expensive fabrication plants and enabled TSMC to specialize in advanced manufacturing processes.

The company manufactures products for customers across smartphones, computers, networking, automobiles, and artificial intelligence. Its customers have included major chip-design firms such as Apple, Nvidia, and AMD, although customer relationships and production arrangements vary by product and period.

TSMC’s market capitalization reflects its importance to the global semiconductor supply chain. It is sometimes described as a chip designer, but its central role is contract manufacturing. Its shares trade in Taiwan, and its American depositary receipts trade in the United States under the ticker TSM.