TSMC founder Morris Chang is a wise man. Chang, a veteran engineer, founded TSMC in 1987, establishing a company that has led the semiconductor industry for decades. Despite his roots in China and his education in the U.S., the Taiwanese national has shown on multiple occasions a deep understanding of the industry. Among his predictions: the cost of producing semiconductors outside Taiwan will double, which will directly affect chip prices.
He has also repeatedly highlighted what he considers the key to TSMC’s success, as well as that of Japanese and South Korean chipmakers: their work culture. Chang believes this culture is essential to their competitive edge and doubts that the U.S. will be able to match it. TSMC is already outfitting a new plant in Arizona, initially planning to produce chips using the N5, N5P, N4, N4P, and N4X nodes by 2024. However, its progress in the U.S. has faced challenges.
Even so, the company Chang founded more than three and a half decades ago dominates the chip industry with notable clarity. Intel and Samsung compete but remain considerably behind. TSMC’s market share in integrated circuit manufacturing is three times that of its nearest rivals. A major factor in this success is its advanced manufacturing infrastructure. TSMC operates state-of-the-art facilities in Taiwan, the U.S., and China, with new factories underway in Japan, Taiwan, Germany, and the U.S.
A Self-Made Engineer
Chang’s early years were challenging. Born in 1931 in China as war with Japan loomed, he moved through six cities and attended 10 different schools before turning 18. He survived bombings in Guangzhou and Chongqing and crossed front lines with his family to escape Shanghai. His time in China ended in 1949 when he emigrated to the U.S. to study mechanical engineering at two prestigious universities, Harvard and MIT.
Chang’s career began despite early setbacks. After being rejected twice from MIT’s Ph.D. program, he entered the workforce, joining Sylvania, an electronics company, where he received training in transistor technology. This role marked the beginning of his career in semiconductors. When Sylvania encountered a major crisis due to its struggle to keep pace with the changing chip industry, Chang’s career continued to rise. In 1958, Texas Instruments, a young but promising company in integrated circuits, hired him.
A 92-Year-Old Industry Icon
While Taiwan lacks the natural resources of industrial giants like the U.S. and China, it has a wealth of human talent. Chang attributes much of his success to this advantage. He has often noted the unique work ethic and professional dedication embedded in Taiwanese culture, qualities that he believes give TSMC a competitive edge over most rivals.
Affable and approachable, Chang rarely talks about himself. Still, he’s undeniably the force behind TSMC’s enduring leadership. Since founding the company nearly four decades ago, he has infused it with the core values that have guided his career: integrity, commitment, innovation, and trust.
“The world is full of successful people, but heroes are rare. There is a difference between success and impact.”
For Nvidia co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang, Chang is more than just a leader in semiconductors. “The world is full of successful people, but heroes are rare. There is a difference between success and impact. “I think Morris—his career, his philosophies, TSMC, its strategy, its core values—is absolutely a study in the industrial revolution,” Huang said, openly expressing his admiration.
Huang’s words may seem hyperbolic, but the truth is that the semiconductor industry wouldn’t be what it is today without TSMC—or Chang. Much of his career was spent at a Texas Instruments subsidiary. However, at age 54, he had a groundbreaking vision: a company dedicated exclusively to manufacturing integrated circuits for other companies, which would focus solely on chip design. This “pure-play foundry” model, now standard, was unprecedented at the time and counter to industry norms.
Chang knew what he was getting into. His business model hasn’t only been profitable but proven the right path to reach the top. TSMC has held a leading position for more than a decade. Besides being a skilled strategist, Chang is also ambitious. “Our goal is to be No. 1, barring none. To be No. 1, you have to spend three times as much as your next competitor,” he said in 1997, at a time when Intel led the semiconductor industry.
“I was literally sure that we had achieved technology leadership. I don’t think we’ll lose it.”
Twenty-seven years later, TSMC controls about 60% of the integrated circuit manufacturing market. Its success is undeniable, yet it’s worth noting that this overwhelming achievement is largely due to TSMC’s technological leadership—a well-known “open secret.” That’s why companies like Nvidia, Apple, AMD, MediaTek, Qualcomm, and even Intel are now among its clients. “I was literally sure that we had achieved technology leadership. I don’t think we’ll lose it,” Chang once remarked.
Chang retired in 2018, confident that TSMC had reached its peak. Today, he still attends events and speaks at conferences, where he is celebrated as one of the most influential figures—not just in the chip industry but in technology as a whole. The words of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang encapsulate Chang’s legacy: “Your career is a masterpiece, a Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony […] Nvidia would not exist without TSMC.”
Image | Taiwan Presidential Office
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