Nvidia is looking at ways to increase production of its H200 chips after demand from China surged beyond current capacity. The increase followed a U.S. decision that allows Nvidia to sell the H200 to China if the company pays a 25 percent fee. That change made the H200 the most sought after chip by major Chinese firms.
Companies such as Alibaba and ByteDance quickly asked Nvidia for large shipments and information on delivery timing. Nvidia told some Chinese clients it is exploring options to expand capacity to meet the orders. The company also said it is working to “manage our supply chain to ensure that licensed sales of the H200 to authorized customers in China will have no impact on our ability to supply customers in the United States.”
Beijing has not yet given final approval. Sources said Chinese officials held emergency meetings to decide whether to allow the chip into the country. For now, only very small amounts of the H200 are leaving factories.
Nvidia has shifted resources to develop its Blackwell line and the upcoming Rubin line, which has reduced focus on the H200. The H200 first reached wide use last year. It is the top-performing chip in the older Hopper family and is made by TSMC on a 4 nanometer process. TSMC did not provide details on how much capacity it has set aside for Nvidia.
Chinese buyers want the H200 because it is the most powerful chip they can legally acquire. It delivers far more performance than the H20, a version Nvidia made for China in 2023 that has limits to meet U.S. rules. At the same time China is investing in local chip makers, but domestic chips still lag behind H200 level performance.
An industry investor noted that the H200’s compute power is “approximately 2-3 times that of the most advanced domestically produced accelerators.” Cloud providers and large customers are placing heavy orders and pushing regulators to ease limits. The supply shortfall has created pressure across the market while firms wait for official moves from both Nvidia and regulators.
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