According to reports from foreign media The Sun, GPU manufacturer NVIDIA (Nvidia), has ordered 300,000 H20 chips to NTD due to strong demand in the Chinese market. The news shows that NVIDIA is resuming its business in China after it has endorsed the U.S. export ban.

This 300,000 H20 chip order is a banned inventory replenishment of NVIDIA's 600,000 to 700,000 H20 chip inventory. Research firm SemiAnalysis reported that NVIDIA sold about 1 million H20 chips in 2024. Marketers said the surge in demand prompted NVIDIA to reconsider not only selling existing stocks, but reinvigorating production strategies.

H20 chip is a product designed by NVIDIA for the Chinese market. Compared with the H100 or Blackwell series sold by NVIDIA in other regions, the H20 has lower computing power. Despite its limited performance, the H20 has become the focus of U.S.-China trade tensions. In particular, the order is the Trump administration's recent permission to resume sales of H20 GPUs in China, lifting the April ban to restrict China from obtaining advanced AI chips. NVIDIA, however, still requires U.S. export permissions to ship these chips. Although NVIDIA said in mid-July, it is expected to get approval soon. But as of now, the U.S. Department of Commerce has not issued these permits.

Before the April ban was implemented, Chinese technology manufacturers such as Tsune, Word Skip and Alibaba have significantly increased the orders for H20 chips for their AI model deployment. Despite the fact that China has provided alternative products, NVIDIA is still very popular in China, and even demand for smuggling and banning GPUs. NVIDIA believes that maintaining participation in the Chinese market will help prevent the market from turning to rivals such as China. For Chinese companies interested in purchasing H20 chips, NVIDIA has also asked them to submit update documents, including customer order predictions.

After the April ban, NVIDIA had expected to face a $5.5 billion inventory loss. Huang Rensha also pointed out that potential sales losses reached as high as US$15 billion. This also shows the importance of the Chinese market to NVIDIA acquisition. Currently, NVIDIA refuses to comment on new orders or permit status. As for NTU and the U.S. Department of Commerce did not respond to related questions.