- Nvidia’s AI market share in China’s AI chip sector is expected to drop to 8% this year.
- The company held 66% of the reins in the Chinese AI market two years ago.
- US export restrictions and rising local competition are slowly pushing Nvidia out of the region.
The ensuing AI boom has brought all the tech giants into a tough global competition to control as much market share as possible. Nvidia has long led this race with its products across several regions worldwide, but its hold on China is expected to loosen drastically.
A new report reveals that Nvidia could lose most of its market share in the Chinese AI chip sector in 2026. It controlled 66% of the local market back in 2024, but Bernstein analysts predict the company will plunge to a mere 8% this year.
Why it matters: Chinese AI products from Huawei and Moore Threads’ GPUs are rapidly scaling production, with these homegrown alternatives resulting in a decline in Nvidia’s local market shares.
Nikkei reports that Nvidia AI GPUs and rack-scale solutions are no longer in demand in China, as domestic companies, such as Huawei, Moore Threads, Cambricon, and MetaX, are now keeping up with much of the market.
The new products meet the needs of domestic developers. There will be no more need to wait for advanced products from overseas.
-Zhang Jianzhong, Chief Executive of Moore Threads.
Nvidia is suffering from US-imposed export restrictions, making access to its top-of-the-line products difficult in China. The US allowed the company to export its previous generation of accelerators. They are much slower than the current Blackwell B200 and B300 GPUs, which are not available in China.
The local companies are also keeping up with Nvidia in terms of performance; Moore Threads’ Huashan is competing well against Nvidia’s Hopper H100 and H200 cards, for instance.
These variables have given rise to local AI chips and hardware accelerators that can satisfy the Chinese hyperscalers and enterprises.
The Chinese government is also actively working to achieve semiconductor self-sufficiency, with incentives like the ‘four little dragons’ of GPUs from Moore, MetaX, Biren Technology, and Suiyuan Technology.
So, the rapidly progressing Chinese AI semiconductor market will reportedly keep up with 80% of its own demand soon.
Do you think Nvidia will be left behind in the Chinese AI race in the near future? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, or join the discussion on the Tech4Gamers forum.
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Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devoutly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.
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