Nvidia Prepares New China-Specific AI Chip To Defend Market Share

Nvidia NVDA is pressing ahead with a China strategy that balances U.S. export restrictions with the need to defend market share in one of its most important regions.The company is developing a new AI chip, tentatively called the B30A, built on its latest Blackwell architecture, Reuters reported on Tuesday.According to people briefed on the matter, the B30A will use a single-die design, delivering about half the raw computing power of the company’s flagship dual-die B300 accelerator, but more potent than the H20 model Nvidia is currently allowed to sell in China.Also Read: Beijing Asks Alibaba, ByteDance Why They Need Nvidia H20 Chips Instead Of Local AlternativesThe chip will include high-bandwidth memory and NVLink connectivity, both of which appear in the H20, a Hopper-based processor customized for the Chinese market.Nvidia hopes to ship samples to Chinese customers for testing by September.China accounted for 13% of Nvidia’s revenue in fiscal 2024. After an abrupt ban in April, Nvidia only regained permission to sell H20 in July.Last week, President Donald Trump signaled that his administration might allow Nvidia to sell scaled-down versions of its most advanced chips in China with 30% to 50% reductions in computing power.NVIDIA’s stock gained 36% year-to-date as Big Tech giants like Microsoft MSFT and Alphabet GOOGL keep splurging on their AI ambitions, fueling demand for Nvidia processors.Nvidia and rival Advanced Micro Devices AMD have already agreed to a deal requiring them to hand over 15% of revenue from advanced chip sales in China to the U.S. government.In parallel, Nvidia is preparing to roll out another China-specific processor, the RTX6000D, which is also based on Blackwell but tuned for AI inference. This chip will feature conventional GDDR memory and bandwidth capped at 1,398 GB/s, just under the 1.4 TB/s limit imposed by new U.S. rules. The RTX6000D will also be priced below the H20 and is scheduled for initial deliveries in September.Analysts remain divided on Nvidia’s outlook in China. Bernstein warned that U.S. export controls and the rise of local players like Huawei could shrink Nvidia’s market share from 66% in 2024 to 54% in 2025, with China’s AI chip localization ratio climbing to 55% by 2027. In contrast, Needham’s N. Quinn Bolton struck a bullish tone, projecting $3 billion in quarterly H20 shipments with near-100% margins on written-down inventory and forecasting $20 billion in China data center sales by fiscal 2028, supported by strong demand for upcoming Blackwell GPU variants.Price Action: NVDA stock is trading higher by 0.33% to $182.61 premarket at last check Tuesday. Semiconductor Stocks Stay In Focus As Massive AI Spending, and China Deal Fuel Growth Hopes Image by El editorial via Shutterstock