TSMC The Company Every Chip Depends On
TSMC, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, designs nothing it sells under its own name. It builds chips other companies have designed, so it never competes with a customer. This video explains how that one idea, from 1987, made a company most people have never heard of into the factory much of the chip industry depends on.
Morris Chang spent 1958 to 1983 at Texas Instruments, then led Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute, and founded TSMC in 1987. The Computer History Museum calls it a dedicated silicon foundry: an independent factory, available to anyone. In 2025 TSMC says it served 534 customers and made 12,682 different products.
TrendForce's ranking of 9 September 2026 put TSMC at 72.5% of the revenue of the world's ten largest foundries in 2Q26, about USD 40.2 billion, against 5.9% for Samsung and 5.4% for SMIC.
TSMC's own results for 2Q26 show revenue of USD 40.20 billion and a net profit margin of 55.6%. August 2026 revenue was about NT$514.8 billion, up 53.3% on a year earlier. Its 2025 annual filing says high-performance computing was 58% of revenue and smartphones 29%, and that its largest customer paid 19% and its ten largest 78%. The filing names no customers, and neither does this video. NVIDIA names TSMC on its own product pages. Apple's A20 Pro announcement does not.
The newest processes earn most: 3nm and 5nm brought in 30% and 33% of wafer revenue in 2Q26, and 2nm, in volume production since 4Q25, was already 3%. Capital spending was about NT$1.27 trillion in 2025, with USD 52-56 billion planned for 2026.
Most of the most advanced manufacturing is in Taiwan. On 16 July 2026 TSMC announced a further USD 100 billion for Arizona, bringing its planned total there to USD 265 billion: ten fabs, two advanced packaging plants and an R&D centre. The first Arizona fab has made 4nm chips in volume since late 2024; TSMC says its yields are comparable to Taiwan.
The fourth video in the chips series, after CPU nanometres, NVIDIA 4nm and Apple 2nm. Sources are named and dated on screen. Figures that could not be traced to a primary source are left out.
Educational documentary. Not financial or investment advice.
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- TSMC, company profile, tsmc.com - established 1987 by Dr. Morris Chang; pure-play foundry; in 2025, 534 customers, 12,682 products, 305 technologies, annual capacity over 17 million 12-inch equivalent wafers; fab locations in Taiwan, the United States, China, Japan and Germany.
- Computer History Museum, Morris Chang, 2007 Fellow profile - born 1931, Ningbo; Texas Instruments 1958-1983, group vice president for worldwide semiconductors; recruited to lead ITRI; founded TSMC in 1987 as a 'dedicated silicon foundry'.
- TSMC, '2Q26 earnings release', pr.tsmc.com, 16 July 2026 - revenue NT$1,270.38 billion / USD 40.20 billion, up 36.0%; net income NT$706.56 billion; gross margin 67.7%; net profit margin 55.6%; wafer revenue 2nm 3%, 3nm 30%, 5nm 33%, 7nm 11%, 7nm and below 77%; 3Q26 guidance USD 44.6-45.8 billion.
- TSMC, monthly revenue 2026, investor.tsmc.com, and 'August 2026 Revenue Report', pr.tsmc.com, 10 September 2026 - January to August 2026 revenue (unaudited); August NT$514.81 billion, up 53.3%; January-August NT$3,386.87 billion, up 39.3%.
- TrendForce, 'Global Foundry Revenue Approaches US$53.49 Billion in 2Q26', 9 September 2026 - TSMC about USD 40.2 billion, 72.5% share of top-10 foundry revenue; Samsung 5.9%; SMIC 5.4%; UMC and GlobalFoundries.
- TSMC, 2025 Annual Report on Form 20-F, filed with the SEC 16 April 2026 - 2025 net revenue NT$3,809,054 million; largest customer 19%, second 17%, ten largest 78%; HPC 58%, smartphone 29%; North America 75%; 2025 capex NT$1,272,411 million; 2026 capex plan USD 52-56 billion.
- Arizona Commerce Authority, 'TSMC Announcement', 16 July 2026 - a further USD 100 billion for four more 2nm-or-beyond fabs; Arizona total USD 265 billion: 10 fabs, 2 advanced packaging facilities and an R&D center; first fab in N4 volume production since late 2024 with yields comparable to Taiwan; second fab complete, volume production expected 2027.
- NVIDIA, Blackwell and Hopper architecture pages (via the Nvidia 4nm fact sheet) - 'manufactured using a custom-built TSMC 4NP process'; 'the TSMC 4N process customized for NVIDIA'. Apple newsroom, 9 September 2026 (via the Apple 2nm fact sheet) - A20 Pro 'built using the latest 2-nanometer process technology'; TSMC not named.
Not regulated financial advice.