I need to clarify what you're looking for. TSMC's revenue growth "pre-AI" could mean a couple of different things:

1. Historical annual revenue growth before the AI boom (e.g., 2018–2022, before AI-driven demand accelerated in 2023).
2. Revenue growth excluding AI-related chips (which would require segment breakdowns, and TSMC doesn't cleanly separate "AI" revenue).

Let me start by pulling TSMC's historical annual revenue data so we can see the growth trajectory.The financial statement data for TSM isn't available in my local database. Let me search for TSMC's historical revenue data from SEC filings (TSMC files with the SEC as a foreign private issuer).TSMC's historical annual revenue and growth, using the "pre-AI boom" period (roughly before AI-chip demand accelerated in 2023). Revenue in US$ billions.

Pre-AI growth context (2017–2022):

• 2017–2019 (the "crypto/mobile-slowdown" era): growth was modest, averaging ~7% per year, with 2018 nearly flat at just +2.4%.
• 2020–2022 (the "pandemic/supercycle" era, before AI-specific demand took over): growth accelerated sharply, averaging ~27% per year, driven by 5G, HPC, and pandemic-era semiconductor demand — not yet AI.

The AI acceleration really shows up from 2024 onward, when revenue jumped +33.9% (2024) and +31.6% (2025), on top of the earlier supercycle. Notably, 2023 was actually a down year (−4.5%) as the industry worked through post-pandemic inventory correction — before AI-driven demand for advanced nodes (NVIDIA, etc.) ignited the current boom.

Two important caveats: 1. TSMC doesn't disclose a clean "AI vs. non-AI" revenue split historically, so "pre-AI growth" is best interpreted as growth before AI became a dominant demand driver (i.e., up through 2022–2023). 2. The 2020–2022 acceleration was already substantial and was driven by HPC/5G/smartphone, so isolating a pure "non-AI organic" growth rate isn't possible from public data — but a reasonable summary is that TSMC grew high-single-digits pre-2020 and then ~25–30% during 2020–2022 even before AI-specific demand kicked in.

Would you like me to extend this back further (e.g., 2010–2016) or add a chart?

Here's TSMC's annual revenue growth back to 2010, plus the explanation for the 2018–19 flatness. (2013 and earlier are on a pre-TIFRS/reporting basis, so there's a small step change at 2013.)

Revenue back to 2010 (US$B):

Why 2018 and 2019 were nearly flat:

2018 grew just +2.4% in USD (or +6.5%/5.5% in local terms) and 2019 +5.4%, a sharp deceleration from the +12.8% in 2017. TSMC management and analysts pointed to four overlapping causes:

1. High-end smartphone saturation and a sudden demand drop. Smartphones were ~45% of TSMC revenue and the biggest driver. Premium (>$500) handset units turned negative in late 2018, which caught the supply chain off guard. TSMC (sole Apple iPhone chip supplier and a Huawei supplier) felt it directly.

2. Excess inventory in the supply chain. The sudden demand slowdown left semiconductor inventory well above seasonal norms. Management estimated it would take a couple of quarters to mid-2019 just to digest it, forcing lower 7nm factory utilization (which also hit gross margin by ~4 points per quarter).

3. Weak macro environment and trade tensions. Global GDP growth was forecast to slow from 3.2% (2018) to 2.6% (2019), and US–China trade uncertainty made customers cautious and hold orders.

4. Collapse of cryptocurrency mining demand. The 2018 crypto bust removed a chunk of demand that had inflated late-2017/early-2018 results.

TSMC's own 2019 guidance was just 1–3% growth, well below its long-term 5–10% target — they explicitly said 2019 would be a "slightly growing" year with the overall foundry industry flat.

Extra context (the secular pattern): Note the pre-2020 growth was highly cyclical. 2010 (+56%) was a post-crisis rebound, 2011 (+0.3%) was a near-stall, 2014 (+25%) was a 20nm/Apple ramp, and 2015 (+6%) another fade. The step-change to sustained ~25–38% growth only became structural from 2020 onward (5G/HPC supercycle, then AI from 2024).

Want this as a chart?

Here's TSMC's annual revenue and gross margin back to 2010. Gross margin figures are from Macrotrends (gross profit ÷ revenue on a TTM annual basis); note the small basis change at 2013 when TSMC moved to consolidated TIFRS reporting.

What the gross margin tells you:

• 2018–19 margin compression confirms the flat-growth story. Gross margin fell from 50.6% (2017) to 48.3% (2018) then 46.1% (2019) — the direct result of the 7nm under-utilization and inventory digestion I described earlier. TSMC even called out ~4 points of margin hit per quarter from low utilization in early 2019.

• The 2020–22 supercycle shows up in both lines. Revenue accelerated while margin climbed from 46% to a cycle peak of ~59.6% in 2022 — pricing power and tight leading-edge capacity during the chip shortage.

• 2023 was a genuine down-cycle. Both revenue (−4.6%) and margin (−5 pts) fell together during the post-pandemic inventory correction, before AI demand re-ignited growth in 2024–25.

• Long-run margin discipline: TSMC's gross margin has typically ranged ~45–51% through normal cycles, spiking to ~55–60% only in supply-constrained periods (2022, 2025). The AI era is now pushing margins toward a higher structural plateau.

Would you like me to chart any of this (revenue, growth %, or gross margin) over 2010–2025?