TSMC founder Morris Chang said that when Jobs’ Mob began designing its processors for iPhones and iPads around 2009 and 2010, it initially relied on Samsung Foundry.

However, as custom silicon became a defining advantage of Apple’s products in the early 2010s, the company sought an alternative supplier, given that Samsung was its primary competitor.

Apple considered Intel Custom Foundry (ICF) and Texas Instruments but quickly determined that ICF was not designed for external customers and that Texas Instruments lacked advanced process technologies. As a result, Apple turned to TSMC as its exclusive supplier.

Chang explained that Intel’s CEO, Paul Otellini, personally approached Apple CEO Tim Cook in early 2011 with an offer to manufacture Apple’s chips. In response, Apple temporarily paused discussions with TSMC for two months to evaluate Intel’s proposal.

Chang travelled to Apple’s headquarters to assess the situation, concerned about this delay. In a private meeting, Cook reassured him that Apple would not choose Intel, reportedly stating: “Intel just does not know how to be a foundry.”

The differences between Intel and TSMC’s business models highlight Intel’s failure to accommodate customer demands.

Chang recalled. “I knew a lot of Intel's customer customers in Taiwan … none of them liked Intel [as it] always acted like they were the only guy [with] microprocessors. The Foundry business where TSMC does not compete with customers, and even if Intel is trying to do business in good faith, they do have conflicts of interest.”

Unlike Intel, which had long focused on designing and manufacturing its chips, TSMC was willing to tailor its processes to customer needs.

“When the customer asks a lot of things, we have learned to respond to every request,” Chang said.

“Some of them were crazy, some were irrational, [but] we respond courteously to each request.  Intel has never done that; I knew a lot of Intel customers here in Taiwan, and all [of them] wished that there was another supplier.”

Intel has since sought to address these shortcomings with its revamped Intel Foundry, which now supports industry-standard design tools. However, Apple’s decision to work with TSMC fundamentally reshaped the industry, he added.