TSMC

台積電 / 台灣積體電路製造股份有限公司

The world's leading contract chipmaker, supplying the advanced logic fabrication and CoWoS packaging required for AI accelerators, server processors, and networking silicon.

TWSE: 2330
NYSE: TSM (ADS)
Profile as of September 12, 2026
#3 in the AsiaAI Tech Index
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TSMC is the central manufacturing and advanced-packaging supplier for the global AI compute buildout. Its scale, customer qualification base, and CoWoS capacity give it an irreproducible position, but it faces high geographic concentration risk in Taiwan and heavy reliance on a few large North American customers.

Key figures

Revenue FY2025: NT$3.809 trillion
Revenue growth FY2025: 31.6%
Operating margin FY2025: 49.5%
Net income FY2025: NT$1.718 trillion
R&D spend FY2025: NT$248.760 billion Estimate
Capital expenditure FY2025: NT$1.272 trillion
Market capitalization 2026-09-11: NT$62.497 trillion Estimate
High Performance Computing revenue share FY2025: 58%
Global pure-play foundry revenue share Q4 2025: 72%
Largest customer revenue share FY2025: 19%
Advanced technologies (7 nm and below) share FY2025: 74% of wafer revenue
Estimated CoWoS monthly capacity 2025: 75,000 wafers

Overview

TSMC was founded in 1987 and operates as an independent pure-play foundry. It manufactures chips for outside design companies and integrated device manufacturers, avoiding direct competition with its customers. Its services span leading-edge logic manufacturing at N2, N3, N4, and N5 nodes, alongside mature and specialty processes.

Beyond wafer fabrication, TSMC provides advanced packaging technologies such as CoWoS, InFO, and SoIC. This combination of transistor scaling and multi-die integration makes it the primary manufacturing infrastructure for the semiconductor industry. In 2025, it manufactured 12,682 products for 534 customers, giving it a broad design and manufacturing base.

The AI angle

AI demand reaches TSMC through fabless designers ordering leading-edge wafers and packaging for GPUs, custom AI accelerators, and server CPUs. High Performance Computing, which includes AI and server-related demand, generated 58% of FY2025 revenue and grew 48% year over year. Management noted that AI accelerator revenue accounted for a high-teens percentage of total FY2025 revenue.

Advanced packaging is critical to this AI exposure. TSMC's CoWoS technology integrates logic dies with high-bandwidth memory, a requirement for modern AI accelerators. CoWoS demand remains capacity-constrained, making TSMC's packaging allocation a determining factor in global AI chip shipments.

Technology and moat

TSMC's core advantage is the combination of leading-edge process execution, volume manufacturing, customer design enablement, and advanced packaging. It began volume production of its N2 process in the fourth quarter of 2025, using first-generation nanosheet transistor technology.

The barrier to replication is not a single patent. A competitor would need extreme ultraviolet lithography capacity, process-control learning accumulated across high volumes, advanced packaging plants, and a record of predictable yield ramps. While Samsung Foundry and Intel Foundry offer advanced processes, neither currently matches TSMC's broad customer base, leading-node manufacturing scale, and advanced-packaging capacity.

Five-pillar assessment

Scale and market position: Holds an estimated 72% of global pure-play foundry revenue, manufacturing over 12,000 products for more than 500 customers.
Technology and R&D: Volume production at the N2 node and industry leadership in CoWoS and SoIC advanced packaging technologies.
Supply-chain centrality: Critical supplier to NVIDIA, Apple, AMD, and Broadcom, while relying on ASML, Applied Materials, and EDA providers.
Financial momentum: Strong AI-driven growth with FY2025 revenue up 31.6% and High Performance Computing revenue growing 48%.
Governance and quality: Professionally managed independent public company with transparent reporting, though the combined chairman and CEO role is notable.

Supply chain and relationships

TSMC depends on a concentrated upstream ecosystem. Critical dependencies include ASML for extreme ultraviolet lithography systems, Applied Materials, Lam Research, and Tokyo Electron for processing equipment, and Synopsys and Cadence for electronic design automation tools. It also requires high-purity wafers, chemicals, and stable electricity and water supplies.

Downstream, TSMC's customer base is highly concentrated. The ten largest customers accounted for 78% of FY2025 revenue, with the largest contributing 19% and the second-largest 17%. Public reporting identifies NVIDIA, Apple, AMD, and Broadcom as major customers, linking TSMC closely to US AI and fabless-chip spending cycles.

Customers

NVIDIAFabricates and packages AI accelerators
AppleManufactures application processors and custom silicon
AMDFabricates CPUs, GPUs and AI accelerators
BroadcomFabricates custom data-center and networking silicon
Qualcomm
MediaTek
Marvell

Suppliers

ASMLSupplies lithography systems, including EUV tools
Applied MaterialsSupplies semiconductor manufacturing equipment
Lam ResearchSupplies etch and deposition equipment
Tokyo ElectronSupplies wafer-processing equipment
KLASupplies metrology and inspection systems

Partners

SynopsysInferredProvides EDA flows for TSMC's design ecosystem
Cadence Design SystemsInferredProvides EDA flows for TSMC's design ecosystem
Siemens EDAInferredProvides EDA tools
Sony Semiconductor SolutionsJoint venture partner in JASM
DENSOHolds an equity stake in JASM
Robert BoschHolds an equity stake in JASM

Competitors

Samsung FoundryInferredCompetes in contract manufacturing at advanced and mature nodes
Intel FoundryInferredCompetes for advanced-node external foundry customers
United Microelectronics CorporationInferredCompetes mainly in mature and specialty foundry nodes
GlobalFoundriesInferredCompetes mainly in mature and specialty foundry nodes

Geopolitics and risk

A large share of TSMC's advanced fabrication and packaging capacity remains in Taiwan. This geographic concentration exposes the global AI chip supply to risks of military conflict, blockades, cyberattacks, or severe transport disruptions. The company also operates under US export controls, which restrict its ability to manufacture certain advanced chips for Chinese customers.

To build resilience, TSMC is expanding overseas. It plans a US$165 billion investment in the United States, including three fabs and advanced-packaging facilities in Arizona. It is also building capacity in Japan and Germany. These overseas facilities improve market access but introduce higher construction, labor, and operating costs than Taiwan-based production.

Risk matrix
Risk	Severity	Why it matters
Taiwan Strait disruption	High	Military conflict, blockade, or cyberattack could interrupt global AI-chip supply.
US-China export controls	High	Restricts ability to manufacture certain advanced chips for Chinese customers.
Customer concentration	High	The ten largest customers account for 78% of FY2025 revenue.
North American revenue concentration	High	North America accounts for 75% of FY2025 revenue.
AI accelerator and CoWoS bottlenecks	High	CoWoS demand remains capacity-constrained, limiting near-term revenue conversion.
Water and power reliability	High	Leading-edge fabs require continuous high-quality power and large water supplies.
Overseas fab execution	Medium	Overseas fabs introduce higher construction, labor, and operating costs.
Technology-cycle execution	Medium	Delays in N2 ramps or advanced packaging could shift customer designs.

Governance and ownership

TSMC is an independent public company, not state-owned or controlled by a family or industrial group. Taiwan's National Development Fund is its largest shareholder with a 6.38% stake and holds a board seat, providing limited state influence but not majority control.

The board includes executive, independent, and institutional-shareholder representation. C. C. Wei serves as both chairman and chief executive officer. The company reports under Taiwan exchange and IFRS rules, and files a Form 20-F with the US SEC for its American depositary shares, subjecting it to global compliance and disclosure standards.

What to watch

Whether N2 revenue ramps in 2026 at yields and margins consistent with TSMC's leading-node targets.
Whether AI-accelerator revenue rises from the high-teens percentage of FY2025 revenue.
Whether CoWoS supply constraints ease as TSMC expands capacity.
Whether NVIDIA, Broadcom and AMD concentration in advanced packaging constrains supply allocation for other AI-chip designers.
Whether Arizona's second and third fabs, new packaging facilities and the expanded US R&D plan meet announced milestones without materially diluting group margins.
Whether US-China export-control rules change TSMC's China-related revenue, product eligibility or access to equipment and EDA tools.

Recent developments

April 16, 2026Filed its FY2025 Form 20-F, reporting 12,682 products and 534 customers in 2025.
January 15, 2026Reported FY2025 revenue growth of 31.6% and noted AI accelerators accounted for a high-teens percentage of revenue.
September 1, 2025Taiwan's National Development Fund replaced its representative on TSMC's board.
June 11, 2025Announced that construction of its second Kumamoto fab is scheduled for the second half of 2025.
March 4, 2025Announced an additional US$100 billion US investment plan, taking planned US investment to US$165 billion.
2025Started volume production of N2 technology, its first nanosheet-transistor node, in the fourth quarter.

Coverage on AsiaAI.FYI

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CXMT Reaches 82% Profit Margin, Beating Samsung and SK hynix on Cost Efficiency September 12, 2026
TSMC’s CoWoS Shortage: Why Nvidia and Cloud Giants Are Sourcing Amkor and UMC Capacity September 12, 2026
Microsoft Plans to Triple Data Centers by 2032, Locking in a Decade of HBM and Foundry Demand September 11, 2026

Guides that cover TSMC

About this profile

Compiled with AI-assisted research from company filings, market data, and published reporting as of September 12, 2026, then reviewed by AsiaAI.FYI. Figures marked Estimate are not company-reported. Check primary filings before relying on any number.

Confidence: B. Audited filings and company results support operating data; market capitalization relies on contemporaneous third-party market data, while named-customer allocation and exact advanced-packaging capacity rely on market research.

Main sources: FY2025 annual report; Form 20-F; FY2025 fourth-quarter results materials; Taiwan Stock Exchange and NYSE listing information; Counterpoint and TrendForce market research.

All 102 sources

Position in the AI stack

The manufacturing and advanced-packaging layer beneath AI accelerators, server CPUs, and networking devices.

Legal name: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited
Headquarters: Hsinchu, Taiwan
Founded: 1987
Founders: Morris Chang / 張忠謀
Leadership: C. C. Wei / 魏哲家, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Employees: 76,907 (2026-09-10)
Ownership: Publicly listed
Listings: TWSE: 2330
NYSE: TSM (ADS)
Business: Contract wafer fabrication and advanced packaging
Sector: Foundry & Chip Manufacturing
Packaging, Test & Substrates
Website: tsmc.com