WHAT A DIFFERENCE two months can make. In May, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world's largest chip-maker, lost the business of Huawei Technologies-its biggest Chinese customer and the source of 13% of its revenue-as a casualty of geopolitical jockeying between superpowers. But TSMC shareholders took the loss in stride. And by late July, after a stumble by rival Intel (see the accompanying story), TSMC's stock had risen almost 50% since May, making it one of the world's 10 most valuable companies. May's low and July's high have something in common: They both reflect TSMC's distinctive role in the global tech economy. Although far from a household name, TSMC controls roughly half of the world's contract chip manufacturing. Brand-name companies that design their own chips-most notably Apple-rely on TSMC's world-class production so they don't have to spend tens of billions to build their own factories. Crack open your iPhone and you'll find a chip from TSMC. If you could crack open an American guided missile, you'd likely find one there too. Its prowess has elevated TSMC to No. 362 on the Global 500, with $35 billion in revenue. Today it gets 60% of sales from the U.S. and about 20% from mainland China.
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