It's probably not just a piece of IP. The question of competitive advantage (or comparative advantage) by companies (IBM in the 70s, Microsoft in the 90s, Intel for decades, TSMC, nVidia, and Apple recently) or by nation states (Japan in the 80s, Taiwan and S. Korea recently) is complex and often mysterious. Economists talk about core competencies, which is a combination of culture, training, work-ethic, supply chain, IP, and other things. If teasing these apart was easy, competitors would emerge more quickly.

Equally fascinating is why it goes away (Japan in the 90s, Intel recently).

I have been trying to figure out TSMC in particular but haven't yet, and I'm skeptical of anyone who claims it is one simple thing, or even anyone who claims they know all the reasons.