huawei's ai chip poised to challenge nvidia's grip on chinese market

2025-04-23 nvidia

Shenzhen, Wednesday, 23 April 2025.
huawei is reportedly gearing up to mass-produce its 910c ai chip as early as next month. this move could significantly disrupt nvidia’s market share in china. the 910c chip may become a primary hardware platform for chinese ai model development, especially after restrictions on nvidia’s h20 chip. some analysts suggest huawei’s chip can match the performance of nvidia’s h100, marking a pivotal moment in the ai chip race.

Nvidia’s stock faces pressure amid huawei’s advance

Nvidia’s stock (NVDA:NASDAQ) is under scrutiny as Huawei’s advancements in AI chip technology pose a competitive threat [3]. Recent U.S. export restrictions on AI chips to China, including Nvidia’s H20, have created an opportunity for domestic players like Huawei [2][6]. These restrictions are expected to cost Nvidia $5.5 billion [1]. Consequently, Huawei is accelerating the rollout of its Ascend 910C and Ascend 920 AI chips [1]. Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, had cautioned U.S. officials that limiting American firms’ access to the Chinese market would only boost Huawei’s rise [3].

Huawei’s 910c chip: a closer look

The Ascend 910C GPU is not a radical technological leap but an architectural evolution, integrating two 910B chips to enhance computing power and memory capacity [2][6]. This design allows the 910C to rival Nvidia’s H100 chip in performance [2]. While Huawei remains silent on the 910C’s specifications, it has already distributed samples to tech companies and begun accepting orders [2][6]. Paul Triolo, a partner at Albright Stonebridge Group, suggests that the U.S. restrictions on Nvidia’s H20 make Huawei’s 910C the preferred choice for AI developers in China [6].

Ascend 920 chip to challenge nvidia’s h20

Huawei is also reportedly developing the Ascend 920, which is expected to go into mass production in the latter half of 2025 [1][5]. Experts believe this chip could fill the void left by Nvidia’s H20 in the Chinese market [5]. The Ascend 920 is expected to use a 6-nanometer process and offer a computing power exceeding 900 TFLOPS, along with 4000 GB/s of memory bandwidth [5]. This positions the Ascend 920 as a potential replacement for the H20, offering a domestic alternative amid supply constraints [5].

U.S. export restrictions and their impact on nvidia

The U.S. government’s tightening export controls on AI chips to China is reshaping the competitive landscape [2]. These restrictions prevent Nvidia from selling its most advanced AI products, including the flagship B200, to China [6]. Nvidia’s H20 chip, specifically designed for the Chinese market, now requires an export license [2][6]. This move has led to an 8.4% drop in Nvidia’s stock value shortly after the announcement of the restrictions [3]. Handel Jones, a semiconductor advisor at International Business Strategies, anticipates that Chinese companies will dominate their domestic chip market by 2030 [3].

Huang’s concerns and huawei’s potential dominance

Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, has voiced concerns that U.S. export restrictions could inadvertently strengthen Huawei’s position in the AI chip market [3]. He warned that if Huawei gains a foothold, China might leverage Huawei’s chips to build AI data centers globally as part of its Belt and Road Initiative [3]. Gregory Allen, director of the Wadhwani Center for AI and Technology, noted that while Nvidia’s previous generation chips outperformed Huawei’s best by approximately 40%, this gap could narrow if Huawei captures the market share vacated by U.S. firms [3].

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