After the US government gave the go-ahead for Nvidia’s H200 exports to China in December, there was much speculation about the timing of delivery to China and the prospects for future sales. Exports of the H200 to China could come as soon as this quarter, Bloomberg News reported Friday, citing a source.
China is the world’s largest semiconductor market, and the entry of Nvidia’s chips would be a“Major victory,” Bloomberg reported. Huang Renxun, Nvidia’s chief executive, has said that artificial intelligence chips alone could generate $50bn in revenues in China in the next few years. The report also said that during the period when Nvidia’s chip exports were restricted by the US and US chips were absent from the Chinese market, local competitors flourished and planned to significantly increase production in 2026.
In certain business sectors, the H200 may gain access to the Chinese market in the near future, the report said, citing sources. Due to uncertainty over sales prospects, Nvidia is now asking Chinese customers to pay in full in advance and can not cancel, refund or reconfigure orders, Reuters reported, citing two sources.
With the global AI race in full swing, the Wall Street Journal reports that, uS President Donald Trump announced on December 8 that he would allow Nvidia to export its higher-end H200 chips to“Approved customers” in China. “The Financial Times then reported that Beijing was carefully assessing the possibility of selling the chip in the Chinese market, or at least investigating its ‘security’ first,” the report said, this reflects China’s concern that its long-term dependence on the chip sector has weakened its ability to innovate.
The Wall Street Journal quoted Vivian Zhuo, a singapore-based semiconductor expert, as saying that many Chinese chip manufacturers, such as Huawei and Cambrian, have emerged and are gradually gaining market share, “China no longer has to deal with a situation where it has to import chips.”. She said that if China slowed its H200 purchases, it was inevitable that it would achieve“Computing independence”.
In a recent interview with a reporter from the global times, Wei Shaojun, vice chairman of the China Semiconductor Industry Association, said that, “From the perspective of industry development, the rational flow of high-end computing resources will help promote the application and exploration of cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence.”
Wei Shaojun also said that the United States’ changing attitude, in the high-end chip sometimes“Unban” sometimes pressure, make users difficult to confirm its true strategic intent. He reminded that China’s semiconductor industry must remain highly alert to this, resolutely not be fooled by its appearance, and can not shake the confidence and determination to adhere to the localization path in areas such as advanced manufacturing.