Nvidia’s latest artificial intelligence chip for China, the RTX6000D, has seen weak demand as major technology firms hold back on orders, according to people familiar with procurement discussions.
The RTX6000D, aimed mainly at AI inference tasks, has been criticised as expensive for its capabilities. Testing showed that its performance falls short of the RTX5090, a chip banned by the United States for use in China but still available on grey markets for less than half the RTX6000D’s price of around 50,000 yuan (7,000 dollars).
Companies including Alibaba, Tencent and ByteDance are waiting for clarity on whether orders for Nvidia’s H20 chip will move forward. The H20 regained U.S. approval for sale in July, though shipments have yet to restart. Firms are also hoping that Nvidia’s upcoming B30A chip, considered far more powerful than the H20, will receive clearance from Washington.
The RTX6000D was designed under U.S. export restrictions, along with the H20 and the planned B30A. These versions are toned down compared with Nvidia’s global offerings, as Washington seeks to limit Chinese advances in AI while maintaining its own lead.
Market response has fallen short of earlier analyst expectations. One report last month estimated 1.5 million RTX6000Ds would be produced in the second half of the year, while another projected 2 million in the pipeline. Nvidia began shipping the chip this week, but demand has not matched forecasts.
An Nvidia spokesperson said, “The market is competitive – we offer the best products we can.”
Meanwhile, Beijing has accused Nvidia of violating anti-monopoly law, increasing uncertainty around its operations in China. Authorities have also called in firms such as Tencent and ByteDance to discuss their H20 purchases, voicing concerns over potential information risks. Nvidia has denied that its products pose any backdoor access threats.
The RTX6000D is built on Nvidia’s Blackwell architecture, using conventional GDDR memory and delivering bandwidth of 1,398 gigabytes per second, just under the restriction threshold. It was introduced to fill the gap left when sales of the H20 were temporarily banned in April. The H20, priced between 10,000 and 12,000 dollars, is based on older Hopper architecture but offers higher memory bandwidth of 4 terabytes per second.
The future of the more advanced B30A chip remains uncertain as it awaits approval in Washington.
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