TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC posted a 54% rise in third-quarter net profit on Thursday that beat market expectations as it continues to reap the rewards of surging demand for semiconductors used in artificial intelligence applications.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd ( TSM ) , the world's largest contract chipmaker and a major Apple ( AAPL ) and Nvidia ( NVDA ) supplier, saw July-September net profit rise to T$325.3 billion ($10.11 billion) from T$211 billion a year earlier.

The profit beat a T$300.2 billion LSEG SmartEstimate, which is weighted toward forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate.

($1 = 32.1700 Taiwan dollars)