Taipei (AFP) - Taiwanese chipmaking titan TSMC reported Thursday a surge in net profit for the first quarter and forecast robust demand for artificial intelligence technology, despite the spectre of US tariffs on the critical sector.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is the world’s largest contract maker of chips that have become the lifeblood of the global economy, powering everything from smartphones to missiles.

Demand for chips has soared in recent years on demand for AI technology, but there are fears US President Donald Trump’s far-reaching tariffs could drive up consumer prices and hurt chipmakers.

TSMC said its net profit for the first three months of 2025 rose 60.3 percent from a year ago to NT$361.56 billion ($11.1 billion).

That beat expectations for NT$346.76 billion, according to a Bloomberg News survey of analysts.

Net revenue for the quarter soared nearly 42 percent to NT$839.25 billion on-year, also beating forecasts, figures released by the company last week showed.

The first quarter ended before Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs on April 2.

TSMC chairman and chief executive C.C. Wei said the company had not detected “any change in customer behaviour” so far.

“We continue to expect our full-year 2025 revenue to increase by close to mid-20s percent in US dollar terms,” Wei said, adding that AI-related demand was also expected to be “robust”.

“We might get a better picture in the next few months, and we will continue to closely monitor the potential impact to the end market demand and manage our business prudently,” Wei said.

- Gauge tariff impact -

TSMC, which counts Nvidia and Apple among its clients, has been in the cross-hairs of Trump, who has accused Taiwan of stealing the US chip industry.

There had been hopes in Taiwan that TSMC’s plan to invest an additional $100 billion in the United States would shield the island from new tariffs.

Trump still imposed a 32 percent duty on Taiwanese imports as part of his sweeping tariffs on global trade partners – which he later paused for 90 days – but it excluded semiconductors.

Now, Washington is pushing forward with plans to slap import levies on semiconductors and chip-making equipment, with the launch of “national security” probes into the industry.

Taiwan’s Minister of Economic Affairs Kuo Jyh-huei said Tuesday the government would carry out simulations to gauge the possible impact of US tariffs.

Taiwan already pledged to increase investment in the United States, purchase more US energy and boost defence spending to more than three percent of GDP in a bid to head of Trump’s tariffs.

Also clouding the outlook for TSMC was a report that it planned to form a joint venture with Intel to operate the American company’s chipmaking facilities.

Wei said Thursday that “TSMC is not engaged in any discussion with other companies regarding any joint venture, technology licensing or technology transfer and sharing.”