Por Javier Surasky
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An Island of Technological Power
TSMC is a semiconductor company,
but it is no ordinary company. To understand why, it is worth remembering that
one of the three pillars of AI is computing power. For that reason, dominating
advanced chip manufacturing means occupying a strategic position in the arena
of technological power and in the global economy, and TSMC manufactures some of
the most advanced chips for training and operating large-scale AI systems.
According to TrendForce, TSMC
accounted for around 70% of the global semiconductor foundry market in 2025
and, in the third quarter of that year alone, posted revenue of USD 33.1
billion—higher than the annual GDP recorded by 55 countries in 2025—with a gross
profit margin of 59.5%, a very high level of profitability for a
capital-intensive industry. Advanced technologies, including the production of
nodes of 7 nanometers or below, which are key for high-performance chips,
smartphones, and advanced computing, represented 74% of that quarterly revenue.
But its power does not come only
from its production. TSMC concentrates an industrial capacity that is extremely
difficult to replicate because it requires accumulated knowledge, sustained
investment, technical precision, and a complex, finely tuned network of
specialized suppliers. It can therefore be understood as a critical node in the
world’s technological architecture.
And that centrality places it
squarely within the geopolitics of AI. TSMC is located in Taiwan, an island
surrounded by tensions among the world’s major powers and home to a fundamental
part of the infrastructure that sustains the global competition over AI. The
“Taiwan issue,” with TSMC at its core, becomes part of a broader dispute over
control of the technologies that will shape the economic, military, and
scientific future globally.
This gives TSMC a unique
influence and places it at the center of a larger geopolitical dispute in what
we have called “the Strait of Hormuz of AI,” revealing how the much-repeated
idea of AI decentralization runs up against a highly localized material base.
Basic Facts:
- TSMC was founded by Morris Chang on February 21, 1987, in Taiwan as a dedicated semiconductor foundry. It created the “dedicated IC foundry” business model, meaning that the company manufactures chips designed by other firms but does not design or sell chips under its own brand.
- It is headquartered in Taiwan’s Hsinchu Science Park, and its current CEO is C.C. Wei, who was appointed to the role in June 2018 and has also served as the company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since June 2024. Wei previously served as President and Co-CEO of TSMC from November 2013 to June 2018.
- In addition to Taiwan, the company has offices in the United States, the Netherlands, China, Korea, Japan, Canada, and Germany.
- In 2025, it manufactured 12,682 different products for 534 customers using 305 process technologies, clearly showing its integration into multiple technology chains. That same year, it shipped 15 million 12-inch-equivalent wafers and had annual capacity of more than 17 million, while 3-nanometer wafer manufacturing, an amazingly advanced tech, already accounted for 24% of its revenue.