As the U.S. explores stricter trade restrictions to inhibit the flow of advanced chip technology to China, Nvidia, a prominent U.S.-based chip manufacturer, is reportedly developing a version of its latest artificial intelligence chips to adhere to these regulations.
According to Reuters, Nvidia is collaborating with a local distributor, Inspur, to introduce and market a chip in China, provisionally named the “B20.” This new B20 chip is projected to start shipping in the second quarter of 2025. Nvidia has chosen not to comment on the matter.
Currently, Nvidia has three chips specifically designed to meet U.S. export controls, including the H20, which has seen price reductions due to sluggish sales as it competes with offerings from the Chinese company Huawei. However, sales of the H20 chip have recently begun to rise, with projections indicating that Nvidia could sell over one million H20 chips in China this year, generating approximately $12 billion, despite U.S. trade limitations, as reported by the Financial Times, citing SemiAnalysis data. This anticipated volume nearly doubles Huawei’s expectations for its Ascend 910B chip.
Despite this positive outlook, analysts from Jeffries have warned that the H20 chips could face additional scrutiny under potential new U.S. trade regulations. The annual review of U.S. semiconductor export controls is due in October, and Jeffries analysts predict it is highly probable that the H20 will be prohibited from being sold to China. Possible avenues for such a ban could include a product-specific restriction, an adjustment to the computing power threshold, or limitations on memory capacity.
Furthermore, the U.S. may consider broadening its export control measures to cover chips sold to other nations in the region, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, or even extending regulations to overseas Chinese firms, though the latter could present more challenges for enforcement, according to industry analysts.