TSMC

Corporate brand

TSMC is the world's leading dedicated semiconductor foundry, manufacturing advanced and specialty chips designed by other companies.

Last updated November 4, 2026

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Overview

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, commonly known as TSMC, is a Taiwanese multinational semiconductor foundry headquartered in Hsinchu Science Park. Unlike integrated device manufacturers that design and manufacture their own chips, TSMC operates primarily as a dedicated contract manufacturer: customers supply circuit designs, and TSMC turns them into wafers and packaged semiconductor products using its process technologies and fabrication facilities. This business model helped separate chip design from manufacturing and became a foundation of the modern fabless semiconductor industry. TSMC was established in 1987 through a joint venture involving the Taiwanese government, the Industrial Technology Research Institute, Philips, and private investors. Morris Chang founded the company after serving as president of ITRI and recognizing that many chip designers needed access to expensive manufacturing infrastructure without becoming manufacturers themselves. Philips contributed capital, technology, patents, and manufacturing expertise during the company's formative period. TSMC's first chief executive was James E. Dykes, who was succeeded by Chang after approximately a year. The company manufactures logic, mixed-signal, radio-frequency, automotive, high-performance computing, mobile, and other semiconductor products. Its customers have included Apple, Nvidia, AMD, Qualcomm, Broadcom, MediaTek, Marvell, Arm-related design businesses, and many other fabless chip companies. Some integrated device manufacturers, including Intel, NXP, STMicroelectronics, and Texas Instruments, have also outsourced selected production to TSMC. The company does not generally market consumer products under its own name; its brand is associated with manufacturing reliability, process leadership, yield, scale, confidentiality, and the ability to support large-volume production. TSMC has repeatedly introduced leading-edge manufacturing nodes, including 7-nanometre, 5-nanometre, and 3-nanometre technologies, and became the first foundry to bring extreme ultraviolet lithography into high-volume production. Its manufacturing portfolio also includes mature and specialty processes that remain important for automobiles, industrial electronics, connectivity, power management, displays, and consumer devices. Advanced packaging and three-dimensional integration have become increasingly important as customers seek greater computing performance without relying solely on transistor scaling. The company is central to global technology supply chains because it manufactures processors used in smartphones, personal computers, servers, networking equipment, graphics accelerators, automobiles, and artificial-intelligence systems. This concentration of advanced semiconductor production in Taiwan has made TSMC strategically important and has raised concerns about geopolitical risk, export controls, natural disasters, energy and water consumption, and the possibility that a disruption could intensify a global chip shortage. TSMC has expanded outside Taiwan to diversify manufacturing and serve customers closer to their main markets. It established or announced major projects in Nanjing, Japan, and the United States, including Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing in Kumamoto and a major Arizona manufacturing program. At the same time, Taiwan remains the center of its most advanced manufacturing and research ecosystem. The company has also committed to renewable-energy goals through the RE100 initiative and has worked with governments and partners on supply-chain resilience. The company has been led by several generations of semiconductor executives. Chang retired from day-to-day leadership in 2018, when Mark Liu became chairman and C. C. Wei became chief executive. TSMC's continuing importance reflects both its technical scale and the institutional trust it has built with customers that compete with one another. Its brand therefore represents an infrastructure business rather than a conventional consumer brand: customers may not display the TSMC name on finished devices, but TSMC's manufacturing platform underpins a substantial portion of the global electronics industry.

History

TSMC emerged from Taiwan's state-led effort to create a semiconductor industry. In the 1980s, government officials concluded that semiconductor manufacturing required more capital and technical risk than most local private companies were prepared to assume. Li Kwoh-ting recruited Morris Chang to lead ITRI, where Chang helped shape a model in which Taiwan would specialize in manufacturing for independent chip designers rather than compete directly with every customer in chip design. The company was formed in 1987 as a joint venture involving the Taiwanese government, ITRI, Philips, and private investors. Philips supplied important technology, patents, and capital, while Taiwan's National Development Fund provided substantial backing. This structure gave TSMC access to manufacturing know-how and allowed it to build facilities before a large domestic customer base existed. James E. Dykes served briefly as the first chief executive, after which Chang assumed leadership and guided the company for more than three decades. TSMC's central innovation was organizational as much as technical. A neutral foundry could serve competing semiconductor designers without selling chips under its own brand or competing with customers' products. As personal computing, mobile devices, communications equipment, and later cloud computing expanded, fabless companies increasingly relied on external manufacturers. TSMC invested heavily in process research, fabrication capacity, design enablement, and customer confidentiality, reinforcing a cycle in which more customers produced greater scale and scale funded further technology development. The company became publicly listed in Taiwan in 1993 and on the New York Stock Exchange in 1997. During the 1990s and 2000s, it expanded its process portfolio and international customer base. Partnerships with companies using Arm architectures and contracts with major mobile and communications-chip designers helped TSMC participate in several technology transitions. Apple became a particularly important customer, with TSMC producing successive generations of application processors and system-on-chip products. During the 2010s, TSMC increased research spending and manufacturing investment to maintain its lead over rival foundries and integrated manufacturers. It introduced 7-nanometre and 5-nanometre production ahead of many competitors and later brought 3-nanometre manufacturing into volume production. Extreme ultraviolet lithography became an important part of its advanced-node strategy. At the same time, its mature-node capacity remained essential to automotive, industrial, and consumer supply chains. TSMC's expansion has also reflected geopolitical pressure. It invested in Nanjing, China, while later developing a broader geographic footprint in Japan and the United States. The COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020–2023 semiconductor shortage demonstrated the economic importance of its output. Governments subsequently encouraged or subsidized local semiconductor capacity, while TSMC sought to preserve its Taiwanese technology base and add selected overseas capacity. In Japan, TSMC partnered with Sony and later Denso to create Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing in Kumamoto. In the United States, it began developing a major Arizona manufacturing program. These projects were intended to improve supply resilience and provide domestic production for strategic customers, although advanced manufacturing remains concentrated in Taiwan. TSMC has also faced export-control obligations, environmental and resource pressures, labor and talent challenges, and the security risks associated with its role as a critical supplier. In the 2020s, artificial-intelligence and high-performance-computing demand became major growth drivers. Graphics processors, custom accelerators, networking chips, and advanced packaging all increased the importance of TSMC's manufacturing platform. The company continues to combine leading-edge process research with a broad specialty portfolio, making it one of the most consequential industrial brands in the global technology economy.

2024
Kumamoto production begins
[1]TSMCen.wikipedia.org
The JASM facility begins production according to the referenced account.
2022
Denso invests in JASM
[1]TSMCen.wikipedia.org
Denso joins the Japan project and the planned fab receives expanded process capabilities.
2021
Japan fab announced
[1]TSMCen.wikipedia.org
TSMC and Sony announce Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing in Kumamoto.
2020
RE100 commitment
[1]TSMCen.wikipedia.org
TSMC commits to 100 percent renewable electricity by 2050 through the RE100 initiative.
2018
Leadership transition
[1]TSMCen.wikipedia.org
Morris Chang retires from active leadership; Mark Liu becomes chairman and C. C. Wei becomes chief executive.
1997
New York Stock Exchange listing
[1]TSMCen.wikipedia.org
TSMC becomes the first Taiwanese company listed on the NYSE.
1993
Taiwan Stock Exchange listing
[1]TSMCen.wikipedia.org
TSMC becomes a publicly listed Taiwanese company.
1987
TSMC is established
[1]TSMCen.wikipedia.org
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is founded as a joint venture involving Taiwan's government, ITRI, Philips, and private investors.

Products and positioning

A neutral, high-scale, technology-leading manufacturing partner for fabless semiconductor designers and selected integrated device manufacturers.

Semiconductor manufacturing
Advanced logic processes
TSMC's advanced logic process families manufacture the central processing, graphics, networking, mobile, and artificial-intelligence chips designed by customers. The portfolio has progressed through 7-nanometre, 5-nanometre, and 3-nanometre generations, with continued development of smaller and more capable nodes. These services include process design kits, design enablement, manufacturing, and yield optimization rather than a branded end-consumer chip.
Semiconductor manufacturing
Specialty processes
Specialty manufacturing covers mature and differentiated technologies used in automotive electronics, radio-frequency communications, image sensors, displays, power management, embedded memory, mixed-signal circuits, and industrial systems. These processes are strategically important because many products do not require the newest transistor geometry but do require long product lifecycles, qualified reliability, and stable capacity.
Semiconductor packaging
Advanced packaging
TSMC provides advanced packaging and integration technologies that combine multiple dies, high-bandwidth memory interfaces, and logic components in compact assemblies. CoWoS and related platforms have become particularly important for data-center and artificial-intelligence accelerators, where packaging can constrain system performance as much as transistor density.
Regional manufacturing platform · 2021
Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing
JASM is TSMC's Japanese manufacturing subsidiary, developed with Sony Semiconductor Solutions and Denso. Its Kumamoto facility was designed to supply automotive, industrial, and consumer customers with mature and specialty logic processes, while strengthening Japan's domestic semiconductor supply chain.

Controversies

2025
Investigation into alleged 2-nanometre trade-secret theft
TSMC reported that two current employees and six former employees had allegedly obtained trade secrets concerning its leading 2-nanometre process. Taiwanese authorities reportedly arrested suspects, and one former employee who moved to Tokyo Electron was reported to have been terminated.
Source
2024
Possible export-control breach involving a Huawei-linked supply chain
TSMC notified the United States Department of Commerce about a potential breach in which one of its advanced chips was reportedly sent to Huawei through another company with ties to the Chinese government. The matter illustrates the compliance risks created by restrictions on advanced semiconductor technology exports.
Source
2019
TSMC files patent infringement lawsuits against GlobalFoundries
TSMC filed multiple lawsuits against GlobalFoundries in the United States, Germany and Singapore, alleging that several semiconductor process nodes infringed 25 TSMC patents. In the filings, TSMC sought injunctions and monetary damages. The complaints were brought to affirm TSMC's technology leadership and to protect its customers and consumers worldwide, according to the source report.
Source

2021Taiwan COVID-19 vaccine procurement
Taiwan
TSMC and Foxconn were authorized to negotiate the purchase of BioNTech vaccines for donation to Taiwan's public vaccination program during a period of limited vaccine availability.
Outcome. An agreement was announced for 10 million doses to be donated to Taiwan.
Source
2020RE100 renewable-energy commitment
Global
TSMC joined RE100 and committed to transition its electricity consumption to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050. The commitment positioned sustainability and energy procurement as strategic issues for a company with very large fabrication-facility power requirements.
Outcome. Long-term renewable-energy transition commitment
Source

Brand decisions

2022
Increase JASM capacity and process rangeStrategy
Background
Automotive chip shortages and Japanese supply-chain priorities increased demand for local production.
Action taken
TSMC added 12/16-nanometre FinFET capability to the planned 22/28-nanometre production and raised projected monthly capacity.
Aftermath
The project became a larger strategic manufacturing commitment for Japan's electronics and automobile industries.
Source
2021
Create Japan Advanced Semiconductor ManufacturingM&A
Background
Japanese electronics and automotive companies sought more secure access to established-node semiconductors amid supply-chain disruption.
Action taken
TSMC and Sony established JASM and announced a Kumamoto fabrication facility.
Aftermath
Denso later joined the project, and the facility began production in 2024 according to the referenced material.
Source
2020
Expand manufacturing outside TaiwanStrategy
Background
Geopolitical tensions and supply-chain concentration created pressure to diversify production geographically while retaining Taiwan as TSMC's principal technology center.
Action taken
TSMC expanded or planned facilities in the United States and Japan and continued operations in China.
Aftermath
The strategy produced a broader regional manufacturing footprint and made TSMC a central participant in government efforts to strengthen semiconductor resilience.
Source
2020
Stop shipments to Huawei and HiSiliconStrategy
Background
United States export-control rules restricted the supply of advanced semiconductors to Huawei and related entities.
Action taken
TSMC halted wafer shipments to Huawei and HiSilicon by the stated September 2020 deadline.
Aftermath
The decision demonstrated how export controls could directly affect TSMC's customer relationships and production allocation.
Source

Recent events

Unconfirmed
TSMC seeks alternatives for factory equipment[7]台积电寻求工厂设备替代方案news.google.com
Reported: 2026-10-22
Reuters reports that TSMC is seeking factory-equipment alternatives to reduce its vulnerability to China’s rare-earths grip, citing sources.
Unconfirmed
TSMC reportedly set to complete 2027 production target early as 2nm capacity ramps toward 120,000 wafers per month[8]据悉台积电有望提前完成2027年生产目标，2纳米产能年底或达每月12万片晶圆finance.eastmoney.com
The report said that strong market demand for TSMC's 2nm process means the company is expected to complete its 2027 production target ahead of schedule, with 2nm capacity possibly reaching 120,000 wafers per month by year-end; the capacity increase was attributed to surging orders from tech giants including NVIDIA, AMD, Apple and Qualcomm.
2026-10-15
TSMC completes construction of second Arizona fab, mass production expected in Q3 2027[9]台积电亚利桑那州第二座晶圆厂完工，预计2027年第三季度量产cnbc.com
Reported: 2026-10-15
Alongside its third-quarter 2026 earnings disclosed on October 15, 2026, TSMC said it had completed construction of its second fab in Arizona and is installing equipment, with mass production expected to begin in the third quarter of 2027, slightly ahead of its previous schedule.
Unconfirmed
TSMC expected to report sixth straight quarter of record profit[10]台积电预计将连续第六个季度录得创纪录利润news.google.com
Reported: 2026-10-12
Reuters preview published on 2026-10-12 stated that TSMC is expected to report its sixth consecutive quarter of record profit, driven by the AI boom. The earnings report itself had not yet been released according to the source.
2026-10-12
Applied Materials launches EPIC Center in Sunnyvale, California with $5 billion initial investment[11]应用材料公司在加州森尼韦尔启用EPIC中心，初始投资50亿美元telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com
Reported: 2026-10-13
Applied Materials launched its Equipment and Process Innovation and Commercialisation (EPIC) Center in Sunnyvale, California with an initial $5 billion capital investment. The 600,000-square-foot facility, featuring nearly four acres of advanced cleanroom space, opens with a founding roster of semiconductor majors including TSMC, Intel, SK Hynix, Micron and Samsung Electronics, alongside innovation partners Broadcom, Advantest, SCREEN, KIOXIA and Besi, and is designed to bring together chipmakers, systems companies, equipment vendors and university researchers to accelerate semiconductor process technology and equipment R&D.
2026-10-12
Microsoft announces Maia 300 AI accelerator built on TSMC 2nm process[12]微软发布基于台积电2nm制程的第三代AI加速器Maia 300163.com
Reported: 2026-10-13
On October 12, 2026, Microsoft announced Maia 300, the third-generation Azure Maia AI accelerator, whose compute chiplets are manufactured on TSMC's N2P (2nm-class) process node, with mass-production deployment expected to begin in 2027. Microsoft said the chip is designed for long-context, latency-sensitive and multi-step agentic AI workloads, and projects 40% more tokens per megawatt than leading GPU systems and rack-level token throughput up to 7x that of Maia 200 in a full 96-accelerator configuration.
Unconfirmed
TSMC reports September revenue up 54.6% year over year, third-quarter revenue of $16.03 billion[13]台积电公布9月营收同比增长54.6%，第三季度营收达160.3亿美元cnbc.com
Reported: 2026-10-08
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing reported September revenue growth of 54.6% year over year, pushing its third-quarter revenue to $16.03 billion, above expectations. Shares were down about 1% in early trading.
2026-10-08
TSMC reports Q3 2026 record revenue, first nine months exceed full-year 2025[14]台积电公布2026年第三季营收创单季新高，前三季营收超越2025年全年chinanews.com.cn
On October 8, TSMC announced that its consolidated revenue for the first three quarters of 2026 was about NT$3,898.727 billion, up 41.1% year-on-year and surpassing its full-year 2025 revenue. September revenue was about NT$511.857 billion (down 0.6% month-on-month, up 54.6% year-on-year), and third-quarter revenue of about NT$1,494.243 billion (up 17.6% quarter-on-quarter, up 50.9% year-on-year) set a single-quarter record, attributed to strong AI demand and rising smartphone stocking demand.
Unconfirmed
TSMC reports September net revenue up 54.6% year-over-year[15]台积电公布9月净营收同比增长54.6%cnbc.com
Reported: 2026-10-08
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) disclosed September net revenue of NT$511.86 billion (US$16.03 billion), up 54.6% from a year earlier and down 0.6% from August, with third-quarter revenue of around NT$1.49 trillion. The company, a major beneficiary of surging demand for advanced AI chips, is scheduled to report its third-quarter earnings the following week.
Unconfirmed
Musk says TSMC will not run Terafab AI chip complex[16]马斯克称台积电将不会运营Terafab AI芯片综合体news.google.com
Reported: 2026-10-07
Per a Reuters report, Musk said that TSMC will not run Terafab's AI chip complex, meaning TSMC will not serve as operator of the facility.

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