Chinese tech giants ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent have reportedly placed an order for Nvidia graphics cards worth $35 billion (approximately 50 trillion won).
According to multiple sources cited by Reuters on October 21, the companies ordered over 3 million units of Nvidia's new RTX PRO 5500 graphics card, priced at around $11,400 each, bringing their total order value to over $35 billion.
Nvidia has expressed uncertainty about fulfilling the entire order due to demand from Chinese companies exceeding initial production plans. Sources indicate that Nvidia has informed some customers and partners that it may only be able to supply 5% to 10% of the requested quantities. The global production of the RTX PRO 5500 in 2027 is also expected to be limited to a maximum of 3 million units. Reports suggest that total orders from Chinese customers have surpassed 6 million units.
The RTX PRO 5500 is a lower-performance graphics card designed for workstations, not for AI accelerators in large data centers. It cannot be used for training large models but can be utilized for inference tasks, which involve generating responses using trained AI models.
This graphics card is considered the highest-performing product from Nvidia that is not subject to U.S. export restrictions. Nvidia's latest Blackwell-based B300 is banned from sale in China, while the Hopper-based H200 requires U.S. review and approval for sale.
This order highlights the ongoing challenges China faces in achieving semiconductor self-sufficiency. As U.S. regulations tighten, Chinese companies are turning to domestic semiconductor manufacturers like Huawei, but local products still struggle to match the performance of leading U.S. semiconductors. Consequently, there is significant interest in Nvidia's lower-performance chips.
Analysts suggest that if the U.S. further intensifies semiconductor sanctions against China, the export of the RTX PRO 5500 could also be prohibited, prompting Chinese companies to place large pre-orders.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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