Nvidia plans to roll out a lower-cost AI chip tailored for China based on its new Blackwell architecture, aiming to preserve its foothold in a shrinking but still critical market amid intensifying U.S. export restrictions.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the new graphics processing unit (GPU) will be priced between $6,500 and $8,000, significantly below the now-banned H20 model, which previously sold for $10,000 to $12,000. Mass production is expected to begin as early as June, the sources said.
The new chip is reportedly based on Nvidia’s RTX Pro 6000D and will incorporate GDDR7 memory instead of high-bandwidth memory (HBM), which is restricted under U.S. trade policy. The GPU will also forego Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s advanced Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate (CoWoS) packaging — a move that simplifies production and avoids violating U.S. rules.
Navigating Export Curbs
Nvidia has been forced to repeatedly redesign its chips for China following successive rounds of U.S. export controls targeting high-performance semiconductors. The H20 chip, part of Nvidia's Hopper architecture, was effectively banned in April, prompting the company to explore new configurations that stay within the latest U.S. limits — especially on memory bandwidth, now capped at 1.7–1.8 terabytes per second.
The new GPU is expected to operate just under the limit, offering around 1.7 TB/s with GDDR7 memory, according to estimates from GF Securities, a Chinese brokerage. While the final product name has not been confirmed, GF Securities suggested it could be called the 6000D or B40.
A second Blackwell chip designed for China is also reportedly in development, with production targeted for September, although specifications remain undisclosed.
Market Share and Strategic Risk
China previously accounted for 13% of Nvidia’s total revenue, making it a vital market despite geopolitical headwinds. Nvidia's market share in China has dropped sharply, from 95% in 2022 to 50% today, according to CEO Jensen Huang, who warned that ongoing restrictions risk pushing Chinese customers toward local alternatives like Huawei’s Ascend 910B chip.
The U.S. government’s aggressive curbs have already inflicted substantial financial damage on Nvidia. The company was forced to write off $5.5 billion in inventory and walk away from $15 billion in potential sales, Huang said during a recent appearance on the Stratechery podcast.
“We are effectively foreclosed from China’s $50 billion data center market,” an Nvidia spokesperson said. The company is still awaiting U.S. government approval for any new product design.
Strategic Trade-Offs
By stripping down its newest chip — using less advanced memory and avoiding restricted packaging techniques — Nvidia appears to be betting on a strategy of compliance through simplification, targeting just enough performance to meet export criteria while staying competitive with domestic Chinese offerings.
Still, analysts note that Huawei and other Chinese chipmakers are rapidly advancing, and continued U.S. restrictions may accelerate a broader technological decoupling in the AI hardware space.
As tensions persist and U.S. policy shows no signs of reversal, Nvidia’s lower-spec Blackwell GPU may represent one of its last viable pathways into China’s lucrative AI market — at least for now.
The United States, on 30 July, announced sweeping sanctions on more than 115 individuals, entities, and vessels tied to Iran, weeks after bombing key ...
European forests are absorbing significantly less carbon dioxide than a decade ago, putting the European Union’s ambitious climate goals in jeopardy...
Türkiye continues to confront the devastating legacy of past earthquakes, Istanbul is taking a major step toward future precautions—with the launch...
A coalition of over 60 rights organisations has signed a letter addressed to French President Emmanuel Macron demanding reparations for Haiti, whose e...
Scientists have discovered thriving animal communities living off chemicals, not sunlight, at record depths in the Pacific Ocean’s Kuril-Kamchatka a...
Nvidia has received approval from the U.S. government to sell its advanced H20 AI chips to China, CEO Jensen Huang announced.
Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang will brief reporters in Beijing on Wednesday, 16 July, his second China trip this year, as Washington’s export bans squeeze the graphics-chip maker’s biggest foreign market.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at The White House on Thursday, just before a planned trip to China, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Central Asia’s fastest supercomputer, powered by the high-end NVIDIA H200 graphics processor, has been launched in Kazakhstan at the National Supercomputer Center "Alemcloud."
The world’s biggest dance music festival faces an unexpected setback as a fire destroys its main stage, prompting a last-minute response from organisers determined to keep the party alive in Boom, Belgium.
Australian researchers have created a groundbreaking “biological AI” platform that could revolutionise drug discovery by rapidly evolving molecules within mammalian cells.
Australian researchers have pioneered a low-cost and scalable plasma-based method to produce ammonia gas directly from air, offering a green alternative to the traditional fossil fuel-dependent Haber-Bosch process.
A series of earthquakes have struck Guatemala on Tuesday afternoon, leading authorities to advise residents to evacuate from buildings as a precaution against possible aftershocks.
'Superman' continued to dominate the summer box office, pulling in another $57.25 million in its second weekend, as theatres welcome a wave of blockbuster competition following a challenging few years for the film industry.
Scientists have discovered thriving animal communities living off chemicals, not sunlight, at record depths in the Pacific Ocean’s Kuril-Kamchatka and Aleutian trenches.
Voice actors across Europe are sounding the alarm over the rise of artificial intelligence in the dubbing industry, warning that the use of AI-generated voices could jeopardize jobs, creative quality, and intellectual property rights.
Meta has announced it will halt political, electoral, and social issue ads in the European Union from October due to the region's new Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising regulation (TTPA).
A team from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) has developed a titanium alloy using 3D printing that is significantly cheaper and potentially more efficient than the widely used Ti-6Al-4V alloy.
Scientists warn the world’s oceans may have entered a new, hotter phase with serious consequences for the planet.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment