TSMC became Asia’s most valuable listed company by market capitalization during the artificial-intelligence boom. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is the world’s leading dedicated semiconductor foundry, producing chips designed by other companies.
Unlike an integrated chipmaker that designs and manufactures its own branded processors, TSMC primarily manufactures semiconductors for customers. Its clients have included major designers of smartphone processors, graphics processors, and other advanced chips.
Demand for advanced manufacturing processes increased as cloud providers and technology companies invested in artificial-intelligence computing. TSMC’s leading-edge fabrication capacity made it a central supplier to that expansion, lifting investor expectations and its market value.
TSMC is commonly confused with Samsung Electronics, another major Asian semiconductor company. Samsung makes memory and logic chips and sells consumer electronics, while TSMC’s defining business model is contract chip manufacturing.