TSMC: lying beneath

2 min readSep 7, 2024

If there is one company that embodies the Daoist principle of humility or lying beneath, it is TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company). Rather than design and manufacture silicon chips under its own brand name like Intel, the company has pursued a dedicated IC foundry business model since it was founded in 1987.

With its foundry model, TSMC focuses solely on semiconductor manufacturing for its customers and does not compete with them in chip design. By pursuing this strategy of non-contention, the company has been able to build deep long-term relationships with all the world’s leading chip companies, including Apple, Nvidia, Qualcomm, AMD, MediaTek, and even Intel. This patient and collaborative approach aligns with the Daoist principle of allowing things to develop naturally over time rather than forcing immediate results.

Because the sage
Does not contend with others,
Nobody in the world
Contends with him.

Through close collaboration with its customers, TSMC has been able to create an environment in which innovation can flourish organically to meet changing market needs with new technological advances. Whereas Intel missed the transition to the smartphone because it was so focused on the PC and server processor markets, TSMC was able to take full advantage of this opportunity by working closely with Qualcomm, MediaTek, Apple, and others to manufacture highly integrated mobile chipsets featuring advanced compute, multimedia, and wireless connectivity feature in tiny packages.

TSMC is playing an even greater role in accelerating the development of the AI server and device markets, manufacturing high-performance AI accelerators for Nvidia and AMD, AI PC processors for Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm, AI smartphone chips for Apple, Qualcomm, and MediaTek, and custom AI solutions for companies such as Amazon, Google, Meta, and Broadcom.

A large state lies downstream.
It is where everything converges.

By enabling customers from throughout the world to innovate and create value using its manufacturing platform, TSMC is like a “large state… where everything converges” and is set to achieve over $80 billion in revenue this year. Perhaps the biggest challenge the company faces in the future is to continue “lying beneath” as its influence and revenue expand along with the growth of the global semiconductor market.

TSMC: lying beneath

Written by Richard Brown