TSMC Ltd. (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company)

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited is a Taiwanese multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company. It is the world's most valuable semiconductor company, the world's largest dedicated independent ("pure-play") semiconductor foundry, and its country's largest company, with headquarters and main operations located in the Hsinchu Science Park in Hsinchu. It is majority owned by foreign investors, with the central government of Taiwan as the largest shareholder.

Founded in Taiwan in 1987 by Morris Chang, TSMC was the world's first dedicated semiconductor foundry and has long been the leading company in its field. When Chang retired in 2018, after 31 years of TSMC leadership, Mark Liu became chairman and C. C. Wei became Chief Executive. It has been listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE: 2330) since 1993; in 1997 it became the first Taiwanese company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: TSM). Since 1994, TSMC has had a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.4% in revenue and a CAGR of 16.1% in earnings.

Most of the leading fabless semiconductor companies such as AMD, Apple, ARM, Broadcom, Marvell, MediaTek, Qualcomm and Nvidia, are customers of TSMC, as are emerging companies such as Allwinner Technology, HiSilicon, Spectra7, and UNISOC. Leading programmable logic device companies Xilinx and previously Altera also make or made use of TSMC's foundry services. Some integrated device manufacturers that have their own fabrication facilities, such as Intel, NXP, STMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments, outsource some of their production to TSMC. 

TSMC has a global capacity of about thirteen million 300 mm-equivalent wafers per year as of 2020 and makes chips for customers with process nodes from 2 microns to 5 nanometres. TSMC was the first foundry to market 7-nanometre and 5-nanometre (used by the 2020 Apple A14 and M1 SoCs and the MediaTek Dimensity 8100) production capabilities, and the first to commercialize extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography technology in high volume.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is the world’s largest dedicated independent semiconductor foundry. Founded in 1987, the company has grown to become a leader in the semiconductor industry, with a portfolio of over 40,000 products and a global customer base spanning every major electronics market. TSMC is also the largest semiconductor company in the world by market capitalization.

TSMC was founded by Morris Chang in 1987 as an independent semiconductor foundry. Morris Chang had previously worked at Texas Instruments and had an idea for a company that could manufacture integrated circuits (ICs) for other companies. With the help of the Taiwanese government, TSMC was established as an independent business to provide ICs for the world’s electronics industry.

TSMC's early success came from its ability to manufacture integrated circuits at a much higher yield than its competitors. This allowed the company to become the leading IC foundry in the world. In the 1990s, TSMC began to expand by developing its own unique process technologies. These technologies allowed the company to produce ICs with finer line widths and higher densities than ever before.

By the 2000s, TSMC had become the largest IC foundry in the world. The company has since continued to invest in process technologies and has become a leader in the fabrication of microprocessors and other advanced semiconductor devices. TSMC is now a major supplier of chips to companies such as Apple, Qualcomm, and AMD.

Today, TSMC remains the world’s largest independent semiconductor foundry and continues to be a leader in the semiconductor industry. The company is investing heavily in its research and development, and is committed to providing cutting-edge technology to its customers.

The mission of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is to be the trusted technology and capacity provider of the global logic IC industry for years to come.

TSMC's core values include integrity, customer focus, innovation, teamwork, and sustainability. The company strives to provide customers with innovative solutions that meet their needs and exceed their expectations.

TSMC's vision centers around becoming the foremost technology and foundry services provider to fabless companies and integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) while establishing a formidable competitive presence in the semiconductor industry through collaborative partnerships. By aspiring to be the most advanced and largest provider, TSMC aims to solidify its position as a leader in the market.

To fulfill this vision, TSMC recognizes the importance of several key strengths. First, it aims to be a technology leader, on par with the leading IDMs, ensuring that it stays at the forefront of semiconductor advancements. Second, TSMC aims to maintain its status as the manufacturing leader, emphasizing its commitment to delivering high-quality, efficient, and cutting-edge manufacturing capabilities. Finally, TSMC places significant importance on building a reputation as the most reputable, service-oriented, and beneficial silicon foundry, prioritizing customer satisfaction and providing maximum value to its partners.

Annual capacity of the manufacturing facilities managed by TSMC and its subsidiaries exceeded 15 million for12-inch equivalent wafers in 2022. These facilities include four 12-inch wafer GIGAFAB® fabs, four 8-inch wafer fabs, and one 6-inch wafer fab – all in Taiwan – as well as one 12-inch wafer fab at a wholly owned subsidiary, TSMC Nanjing Company Limited, and two 8-inch wafer fabs at wholly owned subsidiaries, WaferTech in the United States and TSMC China Company Limited.

In December 2022, TSMC announced that, in addition to TSMC Arizona’s first fab, which is scheduled to begin production of N4 process technology in 2024, the Company has also started the construction of a second fab which is scheduled to begin production of 3nm process technology in 2026. At the same time, the Company continues to execute its plan for a fab in Kumamoto, Japan, with production targeted for 2024.

New technologies developed by TSMC include the TSMC's N7+, the first commercially available extreme-ultraviolet lithographic process in the semiconductor industry. It uses ultraviolet patterning and enables more acute circuits to be implemented on the silicon. N7+ offers a 15-20% higher transistor density and 10% reduction in power consumption than previous technology. The N7 achieved the fastest ever volume time to market, faster than 10 nm and 16 nm. The N5 iteration doubles transistor density and improves performance by an additional 15%.