Following the U.S. government's export ban on AMD's MI308 and NVIDIA's H20 AI chips to China, additional market developments are raising concerns in the semiconductor sector. Reports suggest that NVIDIA has paused the supply of its "China Special Edition" flagship GPU, the RTX 5090D.

While NVIDIA has yet to issue an official notice to its authorized graphics card manufacturers (AICs), informal communications indicate that the RTX 5090D will no longer be available for supply. Sources from Chiphell, a Chinese tech community, mention that the suspension was communicated verbally, with a reminder that this should not be construed as a ban or export restriction, pending further official announcements. Some AICs have already instructed their supply chains to halt production and shipment of the RTX 5090D, although the product's inventory was already limited. The situation is raising concerns among brands like Colorful, Palit, and PC Partner, whose market plans could be disrupted.

The RTX 5090D, which was introduced in January 2025 as part of the RTX 50 series, differs from its global counterpart primarily by having a 29% reduction in AI performance, aligning it with U.S. export control guidelines. Despite the AI restrictions, the RTX 5090D's gaming performance remains on par with the regular RTX 5090.

In the wake of these developments, analysts warn that such export controls could potentially bolster China's semiconductor industry. With the U.S. tightening export regulations, the door is opening for domestic Chinese firms, led by Huawei, to accelerate the development and market penetration of their own AI chips.

Jack Gold, an analyst from J. Gold Associates, commented on the growing opportunity for China, stating that once local manufacturers gain competitiveness, they will start to dominate global markets, making it difficult for U.S. companies to regain lost market share. This sentiment is echoed by independent analysts, who predict that as NVIDIA and AMD face constraints in China, companies like Huawei may fill the gap in AI chip production, with Huawei's Ascend 920 chip already expected to launch in the second half of 2025.

Meanwhile, Huawei's Ascend 920 is being positioned as a potential successor to NVIDIA's H20. Expected to be built on a 6nm process, the Ascend 920 promises to exceed 900 TFLOPS of processing power per card, utilizing HBM3 memory with a bandwidth of 4TB/s. The release of the Ascend 920, coupled with Huawei's AI CloudMatrix 384 solution, is seen as a strategic move to capitalize on the void left by the halted export of U.S. AI chips to China.

The ongoing shift in global semiconductor dynamics highlights how geopolitical tensions and export control policies are reshaping the AI chip market. With the U.S. tightening its grip on exports, Chinese firms are ramping up their efforts to meet the growing demand for AI hardware, positioning themselves as formidable players in this critical sector.