An R&D center for TSMC, producer of the world’s most advanced microchips, in Hsinchu, Taiwan. John Ruwitch/NPR
John Ruwitch/NPR
HSINCHU, Taiwan – Silicon Valley may be the heart of global tech, but its pulse depends on a special kind of lifeblood — high-end microchips — many of which flow out of a science park on Taiwan’s west coast.
The park has been home to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC, since the company’s inception nearly four decades ago. It is from this base that TSMC made itself indispensable to modern life; its chips are in everything from cell phones to