Not just one secret sauce, but as it is usually the case, a mixture of many things: concentrated long term investment, available talent and infrastructure, geop

Not just one secret sauce, but as it is usually the case, a mixture of many things: concentrated long term investment, available talent and infrastructure, geopolitics, hability to make strong business networks, etc... If you force me to pick one to be the secret sauce though, I would risk to pick their business model. TSMC was a key element in the rise of the fabless value chain, while other fab powerhouses were more vertically integrated. The engineers in my circle who have done designs with their processes usually say good things about the experience.