In a statement, the world's largest contract chipmaker said consolidated sales reached NT$467.58 billion (US$14.51 billion), surpassing the previous record of NT$442.68 billion set in June. TSMC said consolidated sales for the first seven months of this year totaled NT$2.87 trillion, up 37 percent from the same period a year earlier. At an investor conference in mid-July, TSMC forecast third-quarter revenue of between US$44.6 billion and US$45.8 billion. Based on an exchange rate of NT$32 to the U.S. dollar TSMC used in the forecast, the forecast would translate into consolidated sales of between NT$1.43 trillion and NT$1.47 trillion. If the forecast is met, analysts said, TSMC's average monthly consolidated sales for August and September would range between NT$479.81 billion and NT$499.01 billion, setting new monthly records.