TAIPEI, April 18 (Reuters) - Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC

posted a 9% rise in first-quarter net profit on

Thursday that beat market expectations as it rides a wave of

demand for semiconductors used in artificial intelligence

applications.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd ( TSM ) ,

the world's largest contract chipmaker and a major Apple Inc ( AAPL )

and Nvidia ( NVDA ) supplier, saw January-March net

profit rise to T$225.5 billion ($6.97 billion) from T$206.9

billion a year earlier.

The profit beat a T$218.1 billion LSEG SmartEstimate, which

is weighted toward forecasts from analysts who are more

consistently accurate.

($1 = 32.3350 Taiwan dollars)