As the United States explores stricter trade restrictions to inhibit advanced chip technology from being exported to China, Nvidia, a prominent chipmaker based in the U.S., is reportedly developing a version of its new artificial intelligence chips to align with these regulations.
According to undisclosed sources cited by Reuters, Nvidia is collaborating with a local distribution partner, Inspur, to introduce its new chip, provisionally named the “B20,” into the Chinese market. The B20 is anticipated to begin shipping in the second quarter of 2025.
Despite the evolving trade restrictions, Nvidia has launched three chips specifically designed to comply with U.S. export controls, including the H20 chip. The company recently reduced the price of the H20 to boost sales, which had been sluggish due to competition from Huawei’s domestic chips. Sources indicate that H20 sales have started to rise, with projections suggesting that Nvidia could sell over one million of these chips in China this year, generating approximately $12 billion, as reported by the Financial Times, referencing SemiAnalysis data. This expected sales figure is nearly double the sales targets set by Huawei for its Ascend 910B chip.
In a related note, analysts from Jefferies expressed concerns that the H20 chips could face new risks under impending U.S. trade regulations. With the U.S. set to conduct its annual review of semiconductor export controls in October, the likelihood of a prohibition on H20 sales to China is considerable, according to the analysts. They suggested that such a ban might occur through various methods, including a specific product ban, adjustments to computing power limits, or restrictions on memory capacity.
Additionally, the U.S. may broaden its export controls to encompass chips sold to other regional countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, or to overseas Chinese firms, although such extensions would pose implementation challenges.