TSMC is the Taiwanese semiconductor company that manufactures advanced chips for companies such as Apple and AMD.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company was founded in 1987 by Morris Chang. It pioneered the dedicated foundry model, manufacturing chips designed by other companies rather than primarily selling chips under its own processor brand.
This separation allows companies such as Apple, AMD, and many fabless chip designers to focus on architecture and product design while TSMC operates highly specialized fabrication plants. Its manufacturing scale and process technology made it central to the global semiconductor supply chain.
TSMC is not the same as a chip designer such as Qualcomm or AMD, and it is not primarily a branded consumer-electronics manufacturer. Its defining role is contract semiconductor manufacturing.