TAIPEI (Reuters) -TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, posted a 60.7% jump in second-quarter net profit on Thursday, beating market forecasts and hitting a historic high as it benefited from surging demand for semiconductors used in artificial intelligence applications.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, whose customers include Apple and Nvidia, saw April-June net profit rise to T$398.3 billion ($13.53 billion).

The profit handily beat a T$377.9 billion LSEG SmartEstimate, which is weighted toward forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate.

($1 = 29.4440 Taiwan dollars)

(Reporting by Wen-Yee Lee, Faith Hung and Yimou Lee; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)