Huawei’s sales of AI chips have experienced a significant surge as Nvidia faces a complete halt in shipments to China due to a customs ban on its H200 AI chips. This ban arises amid broader US-imposed export restrictions on advanced AI technology, which have prompted Chinese companies to increasingly favor domestic alternatives. As a result, major Chinese tech firms are placing bulk orders for Huawei’s Ascend AI chips, particularly after the optimization of models such as DeepSeek V4.

Huawei: Huawei is a Chinese technology giant that develops the Ascend series of AI chips designed for high-performance computing in artificial intelligence applications. Recent orders from major Chinese tech companies for its latest 950PR and similar models have driven a surge in AI chip sales amid restrictions on foreign alternatives. This positions Huawei centrally in China’s drive for domestic AI hardware self-sufficiency.
Nvidia: Nvidia is a leading US semiconductor firm specializing in graphics processing units crucial for AI training and inference workloads. It faces stalling sales in China due to US export controls and a Chinese customs ban preventing shipments of its advanced H200 chips. The situation allows domestic providers like Huawei to fill the gap in the Chinese AI market.

Customs Ban: Chinese customs maintain a ban on Nvidia’s H200 AI chips, resulting in zero shipments to the market.
Export Restrictions: US-imposed export controls on advanced AI chips prompt China to favor domestic alternatives over Nvidia products.
Domestic Chip Demand: Major Chinese tech firms place bulk orders for Huawei’s Ascend AI chips following optimization of models like DeepSeek V4.