'It's become almost a monopoly at the leading edge, and all of those manufacturing operations, for the most part, are out of Taiwan, Hsinchu. When it comes to the most advanced chips used in the latest iPhones, supercomputers and automotive AI, TSMC is responsible for 92% of production while Samsung is responsible for the other 8%, according to research group Capital Economics. TSMC alone was responsible for 24% of the world's semiconductor output in 2020, up from 21% in 2019, according to the company. Their success brings all the business that we could ever hope for,' Cassidy said. We let our products speak for themselves. So Apple gets all the accolades when a new phone comes out,' said Joanne Itow, managing director of manufacturing at Semico Research. 'But they remain sort of in the background, in terms of end markets. TSMC is also Apple's exclusive provider of the most advanced chips inside every iPhone currently on the market and most Mac computers. Earlier this month, it announced plans for a new factory in Japan, where it will produce chips with older technologies, for things like household devices and certain car components. TSMC makes key components for everything from cellphones to F-35 fighter jets to NASA's Perseverance Rover mission to Mars.

Cassidy is TSMC's chief strategy officer and the president and CEO of TSMC's project in Arizona. They'll be used in smartphones,' Rick Cassidy told CNBC. 'These are parts that are going to be used in lots of different places: CPUs, GPUs, IPUs, etc. The company says it will produce 20,000 wafers each month. CNBC got an exclusive tour of the $12 billion fabrication plant, or fab, in Phoenix, Arizona, where TSMC will start making 5-nanometer chips in 2024.

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