(Reuters) — Taiwanese contract chipmaker TSMC, a major supplier to Apple and Nvidia, on Thursday forecast an annual revenue growth of 10% in the global semiconductor industry, excluding memory chips.

“This is a new golden age of opportunity with AI,” said senior vice-president Cliff Hou, who was speaking at an event in Hsinchu, where the company is headquartered.

In April, TSMC lowered its outlook for the global semiconductor industry excluding memory to a growth rate of around 10% from a previous forecast of more than 10%.

World Semiconductor Trade Statistics has forecast growth of 13.1% for the global semiconductor market in 2024.

TSMC has estimated second-quarter sales may rise as much as 30% as it rides a wave of demand for semiconductors used in artificial intelligence applications (AI).

Nvidia forecast on Wednesday its quarterly revenue above estimates and announced a stock split, lifting shares to a record-high territory and impressing investors who have tripled the chipmaker’s market value in the past year on AI optimism.

(Reporting By Faith Hung; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree, Kim Coghill and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)