Innovation & Wealth › The information age › Microchips and the personal computer
TSMC (Morris Chang)
founded 1987, Taiwan· Company or fortune· Companies & fortunes
Well documentedSolid records, texts or physical evidence.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, founded by Morris Chang in 1987, builds chips designed by other companies and became the world's leading chipmaker.
See it on the Innovation & Wealth map →What happened
Chang, a Texas Instruments veteran recruited by Taiwan's government, launched TSMC with state money and Dutch partner Philips. Its 'pure-play foundry' model meant it only manufactured and never competed with its customers. That let Nvidia, Apple, Qualcomm and others design chips without owning factories, which now cost $20 billion or more each. TSMC makes roughly 90% of the most advanced chips, by industry estimates; its market value passed $1 trillion in 2024. Most of the wealth went to shareholders, not Chang.
Impact on society and the economy
It split chip design from chip making, enabled the 'fabless' boom, and made Taiwan central to the world economy and to US–China tensions.
Think of it like
Like a general contractor that builds for every developer in town but never develops its own projects, so all of them trust it.
How we know
Company filings and annual reports, industry market-share data such as TrendForce's, and Chang's own interviews and memoir.
Still debated
How exposed the world is to a conflict over Taiwan, and whether new TSMC plants in Arizona and Japan can match Taiwan's costs, are open questions.
Inside this (1)
Connections (5)
▸Samsung (Lee Byung-chul) competes in chipmaking with TSMC (Morris Chang)Well documented
The connection
Samsung, the biggest memory-chip maker, also builds logic chips for outside customers, competing directly with TSMC's foundry business. Both race toward smaller transistors; Samsung began 3-nanometer production first, in 2022, but TSMC's better yields won most big customers. By 2025 TSMC held about 70% of the foundry market and Samsung about 7%, by TrendForce estimates.
When and how
Hwaseong and Pyeongtaek, South Korea, and Hsinchu, Taiwan; head to head since Samsung expanded its foundry in the 2000s and made it a separate unit in 2017.
How we know
Industry market-share data, company earnings and customer announcements, such as Apple's and Nvidia's reliance on TSMC and Tesla's 2025 chip deal with Samsung.
Debates
Whether Samsung can close the gap, partly at its Taylor, Texas plant, and how much customers will pay for a second supplier, are open.
▸TSMC (Morris Chang) manufactures the chips of Nvidia (Jensen Huang)Well documented
The connection
Nvidia owns no chip factories. Since about 1998 it has relied mainly on TSMC to build its graphics and AI chips, including the H100 and Blackwell lines. TSMC's lead in advanced manufacturing and chip packaging is a main reason Nvidia can ship AI chips at scale, and also its main supply bottleneck.
When and how
Hsinchu, Taiwan, and Santa Clara, California, since the late 1990s; Chang has written that he asked Huang to become TSMC's CEO in 2013; Huang declined.
How we know
Nvidia's filings name TSMC as its main manufacturer, and both companies' leaders describe the partnership publicly.
Debates
Whether Nvidia will shift some production to Samsung or Intel, and how risk around Taiwan affects it, are open questions.
▸TSMC (Morris Chang) surpassed the chipmaking lead of Intel and Moore's lawWell documented
The connection
Intel long led the world in chip manufacturing, keeping pace with Moore's law in its own factories. In the 2010s its 10-nanometer process slipped years behind schedule, while TSMC, fed by huge orders from Apple and others, pulled ahead by about 2018. Apple dropped Intel chips for Macs from 2020, and Intel now outsources some chips to TSMC.
When and how
Santa Clara, California, and Hsinchu, Taiwan, about 2015–2020; Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger launched a comeback plan in 2021.
How we know
Product timelines, industry analyses and Intel's own public admissions of its 10nm and 7nm delays in 2018 and 2020.
Debates
Whether Intel's turnaround, backed by CHIPS Act funding and a US government stake taken in 2025, can restore its lead is uncertain.
▸TSMC (Morris Chang) makes the processors of iPhone and the smartphone platform economyWell documented
The connection
Apple designs its own A-series processors; TSMC has manufactured them alone since 2016, after sharing the 2015 chip with Samsung. Apple has long been TSMC's largest customer, about a fifth of its revenue, and usually first on each new process. That lets Apple control performance without owning factories, but ties the iPhone to Taiwan.
When and how
TSMC's factories in Hsinchu and Tainan, Taiwan, from about 2014; Apple's chip team in Cupertino, led by Johny Srouji.
How we know
Chip teardowns by firms such as TechInsights, TSMC's annual reports on its largest customer, and Apple's statements about buying chips from TSMC Arizona.
Debates
How Apple would cope if a crisis cut off Taiwan; Arizona plants now make some Apple chips, but the most advanced still come from Taiwan.
▸CHIPS Act and the chip race subsidized US factories of TSMC (Morris Chang)Well documented
The connection
Under the CHIPS Act the Commerce Department awarded TSMC up to $6.6 billion in grants and up to $5 billion in loans for factories in Phoenix, Arizona. TSMC raised its planned US investment to $65 billion, then $165 billion in March 2025. Its first Arizona plant began volume production in late 2024, at higher cost than in Taiwan.
When and how
Phoenix, Arizona; plans announced 2020, award finalized November 2024, expansion announced at the White House in March 2025.
How we know
Commerce Department award announcements and TSMC's filings document the money and the production start.
Debates
Whether US-made chips can compete on cost, and whether Taiwan will keep its most advanced processes at home, as its government prefers.