Many years after Intel Company INTC walked away from Morris Chang’s pitch to co-invest in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd TSM, the Taiwanese chip large has skyrocketed previous Intel in market worth.
What Occurred: In a 2014 lecture at Stanford College, Chang, the founding father of TSMC, shared the outstanding backstory of how he secured funding for what would turn into the world’s largest devoted chip foundry.
On the time, Chang was tasked with piecing collectively financing, with the Taiwanese authorities promising as much as 50% of the preliminary funding — if Chang might safe the opposite half from non-public traders, ideally a serious world tech associate.
Chang approached a number of trade giants, together with Intel, Toshiba, Hitachi, and Sony. Whereas Intel initially confirmed some curiosity, the conversations in the end resulted in rejection.
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Chang recalled how Intel’s then-executive Craig Barrett met with him twice however ultimately stated no, saying the corporate wasn’t .
“The one firm that seemed to be genuinely was Philips,” Chang recounted. Whereas he had hoped for a stronger expertise associate, Chang settled for Philips, which invested 28%. With the Taiwanese authorities’s 48% and extra funds from native traders, TSMC was formally launched in 1987.
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Why It is Necessary: Quick ahead to as we speak, and the distinction between TSMC and Intel’s fortunes could not be starker.
As of Could 2025, TSMC boasts a market capitalization of $908.78 billion, rating because the world’s eleventh most beneficial firm, whereas Intel lags far behind with a market cap of $91.60 billion, sitting at 206th place globally.
TSMC, which went public as an ADR within the U.S. in 1997, now controls over 60% of the worldwide chip foundry market. It counts powerhouse shoppers like Apple Inc., Superior Micro Gadgets, and Nvidia Company, leveraging course of applied sciences and benefiting from the fabless chip mannequin that has reshaped the semiconductor panorama.
In the meantime, Intel has struggled to take care of its former dominance. Over the previous 5 years, Intel’s inventory has fallen greater than 64% (whereas TSMC has gained BY 231.17%), shedding floor not solely in its conventional x86 stronghold but additionally in rising areas like smartphone chips and AI, the place Nvidia has surged forward.
At Intel’s first-quarter 2025 earnings name, new CEO Lip-Bu Tan admitted, “Clearly, there are not any fast fixes,” as the corporate works by a multi-year transformation plan geared toward regaining competitiveness in AI, GPUs, and edge computing.
However the larger story as we speak is how TSMC has far outpaced Intel’s market worth and world affect.
With TSMC sitting atop the worldwide semiconductor provide chain and Intel working arduous to stage a turnaround, the once-dismissed foundry mannequin now stands as a defining drive in the way forward for chips.
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Disclaimer: This content material was partially produced with the assistance of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and printed by Benzinga editors.
