Latest news with #LiamMo
Irish Independent
4 days ago
- Business
- Irish Independent
Firms in China rush to buy Nvidia chips as sales set to resumes
Liam Mo, Anne Marie Roantree and Che Pan Chinese firms are scrambling to buy Nvidia's H20 artificial intelligence chips, after the company said it planned to resume sales there following a meeting between its CEO and US president Donald Trump. Nvidia's AI chips have been a key focus of US export controls, designed to keep the most advanced chips out of Chinese hands over national security concerns.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Chinese firms scramble to buy Nvidia AI chips as it plans to resume sales
By Liam Mo, Anne Marie Roantree and Che Pan BEIJING/HONG KONG: Chinese firms are scrambling to buy Nvidia H20 artificial intelligence chips, two sources told Reuters, as the company said it plans to resume sales to the mainland days after its CEO met U.S. President Donald Trump. Nvidia's AI chips have been a key focus of U.S. export controls designed to keep the most advanced chips out of Chinese hands over national security concerns. The U.S.-listed company has said the restrictions would cut its revenue by $15 billion. The world's most valuable firm is filing applications with the U.S. government to resume sales to China of the H20 graphics processing unit (GPU), and expects to get the licences soon, Nvidia said in a statement. "The U.S. government has assured Nvidia that licenses will be granted, and Nvidia hopes to start deliveries soon," said the company, whose chief executive, Jensen Huang, is in Beijing. Chinese companies have scrambled to place orders for the chips, which Nvidia would then need to send to the U.S. government for approval, the sources familiar with the matter said. They added that internet giants ByteDance and Tencent are in the process of submitting applications. Central to the process is a "whitelist" established by Nvidia that allows Chinese companies to register for potential purchases, one of the sources said. ByteDance and Tencent did not respond to a request for comment. Nvidia did not respond to a request for comment regarding the "whitelist". Nvidia, which has criticised the export restrictions the Trump administration imposed in April that stopped it from selling its H20 chip in China, also said it has introduced a new model tailored to meet regulatory rules in the Chinese market. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The U.S. government has expressed concern that the Chinese military could use AI chips to develop weapons. Huang is scheduled to hold a media briefing in Beijing on Wednesday when he attends a supply chain expo. The Nvidia CEO also visited China in April and stressed the importance of the Chinese market. "The Chinese market is massive, dynamic, and highly innovative, and it's also home to many AI researchers," Huang told Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Tuesday. "Therefore, it is indeed crucial for American companies to establish roots in the Chinese market." Nvidia's Frankfurt-listed shares jumped 3.2%. The news on China chips also lifted cloud computing and 5G communications stocks. SUPPLY CHAIN Nvidia has faced increased competition from Chinese tech giant Huawei and other makers of GPUs - the chips used to train artificial intelligence. But Chinese companies, including big tech firms, still crave Nvidia chips due to the company's computing platform known as CUDA. Huang's visit is being closely watched in both China and the United States, where a bipartisan pair of senators last week sent a letter to the CEO asking him to abstain from meeting companies that are working with military or intelligence bodies. The senators also asked Huang to refrain from meeting with entities named on the United States' restricted export list. The move to resume sales of the H20 chips comes amid easing tensions between Washington and Beijing, with China relaxing controls on rare earth exports and the United States allowing chip design software services to restart in China. "The uncertainties between the U.S. and China remain high and despite a pause in H20's ban, Chinese companies will continue to diversify their options to better protect their supply chain integrity," said He Hui, research director of semiconductors at Omdia. The H20 chip was developed specifically for the Chinese market after U.S. export restrictions were imposed on national security grounds in late 2023. The AI chip was Nvidia's most powerful legally available product in China until it was effectively banned by Washington in April. The H20 ban forced Nvidia to write off $5.5 billion in inventories, and Huang told the Stratechery podcast earlier this year that the company also had to walk away from $15 billion in sales. Nvidia also announced the development of a new AI chip designed specifically for China, called the RTX Pro GPU. The company described the model as "fully compliant" with U.S. export controls and suitable for digital twin AI applications in sectors such as smart factories and logistics. In May, Reuters reported Nvidia was preparing to launch a new AI chip, based on the RTX Pro 6000D, in China at a significantly lower price point than the H20. The graphics processing unit would be part of Nvidia's latest generation Blackwell-architecture AI processors and was expected to be priced well below the H20 due to its weaker specifications and simpler manufacturing requirements, sources said. China generated $17 billion in revenue for Nvidia in the fiscal year ending January 26, accounting for 13% of the company's total sales, based on its latest annual report. Huang has consistently highlighted China as a critical market for Nvidia's growth.
CTV News
04-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Chinese sales of foreign phone makers, including Apple, drop 9.7% in May
iPhone 16 phones are seen on display. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images via CNN Newsource) BEIJING — Sales of foreign-branded mobile phones in China, including those of Apple Inc, fell 9.7 per cent year-on-year in May, according to data released by a government-affiliated research company on Friday. Calculations based on the data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) showed that May shipments of foreign-branded phones in China fell to 4.54 million handsets from the same month last year. As the largest foreign mobile phone maker in China's smartphone-dominated market, Apple's performance plays a significant role in the overall data on foreign-branded phone sales in the country. Apple has faced increased competition from domestic rivals and has cut prices to stay competitive. Chinese e-commerce platforms offered discounts of up to 2,530 yuan (US$351) on Apple's latest iPhone 16 models in May. The CAICT data did not give specific figures for Apple. Shipments of phones within China were down 21.8 per cent year-on-year to 23.72 million handsets for the month, the data showed. (Reporting by Liam Mo and Brenda Goh. Editing by Aidan Lewis and Mark Potter)
Time of India
12-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Synopsys restarts some China services, sales of core tools still blocked
By Liam Mo and Brenda Goh BEIJING: Synopsys has resumed offering some services in China , relaxing a suspension it implemented earlier this month to comply with new U.S. export curbs, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. As tensions flared between the world's two largest economies last month, Washington ordered a broad range of companies to stop shipping goods to China. The decision led Synopsys, a California-based provider of semiconductor design software, to halt sales and services in China and shut down access to its SolvNet customer support site. Synopsys resumed some services last week, however, including sales of non-core hardware and intellectual property that allow it to serve some existing clients, said the source, who declined to be named as they were not permitted to speak to the media. Synopsys did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday. SolvNet has also reopened with restrictions, including limits on access to some Electronic Design Automation software-related documents, the source added. But sales of essential EDA tools remain suspended, meaning that Synopsys will still be unable to attract new customers as its intellectual property and hardware cannot be put to use, the source said. The IP consists of code the company sells to users for chip design , while the hardware systems such as HAPS and ZeBu are part of Synopsys' hardware-assisted verification product portfolio, primarily used for verification of acceleration processes. EDA software is used to compile IP and other designs onto hardware. Synopsys, along with Cadence and Siemens EDA, dominates the EDA software chipmakers can use to design semiconductors for everything from smartphones to computers and cars. The three companies control more than 70% of China's EDA market, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported in April. Long-term restrictions on Chinese chip design companies' access to the tools would deal a significant blow to the industry in China. Synopsys suspended its annual and quarterly forecasts after the U.S. implemented the restrictions, as they cast uncertainty over its ability to sell chip design software in China.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Synopsys restarts some China services, sales of core tools still blocked, source says
By Liam Mo and Brenda Goh BEIJING (Reuters) -Synopsys has resumed offering some services in China, relaxing a suspension it implemented earlier this month to comply with new U.S. export curbs, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. As tensions flared between the world's two largest economies last month, Washington ordered a broad range of companies to stop shipping goods to China. The decision led Synopsys, a California-based provider of semiconductor design software, to halt sales and services in China and shut down access to its SolvNet customer support site. Synopsys resumed some services last week, however, including sales of non-core hardware and intellectual property that allow it to serve some existing clients, said the source, who declined to be named as they were not permitted to speak to the media. Synopsys did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday. SolvNet has also reopened with restrictions, including limits on access to some Electronic Design Automation software-related documents, the source added. But sales of essential EDA tools remain suspended, meaning that Synopsys will still be unable to attract new customers as its intellectual property and hardware cannot be put to use, the source said. The IP consists of code the company sells to users for chip design, while the hardware systems such as HAPS and ZeBu are part of Synopsys' hardware-assisted verification product portfolio, primarily used for verification of acceleration processes. EDA software is used to compile IP and other designs onto hardware. Synopsys, along with Cadence and Siemens EDA, dominates the EDA software chipmakers can use to design semiconductors for everything from smartphones to computers and cars. The three companies control more than 70% of China's EDA market, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported in April. Long-term restrictions on Chinese chip design companies' access to the tools would deal a significant blow to the industry in China. Synopsys suspended its annual and quarterly forecasts after the U.S. implemented the restrictions, as they cast uncertainty over its ability to sell chip design software in China.
