Chipmaking giant TSMC on Thursday announced a better-than-expected net profit for the fourth quarter as it benefits from booming demand for AI technology.

The company is the world's largest contract maker of chips that are used in everything from Apple's iPhones to Nvidia's cutting-edge artificial intelligence hardware.

The firm said net profit for the three months to December jumped 57 percent on-year to NT$374.7 billion (US$11.4 billion).

That was better than the NT$369.8 billion forecast by analysts, and underscores expectations for sustained spending on AI infrastructure from the likes of Microsoft and Amazon.

Net revenue for the fourth quarter rose 38.8 percent to NT$868.46 billion, TMSC said, beating forecasts. (AFP)