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Increased demand for Nvidia's graphics cards in China

Translate from : Øget efterspørgsel på Nvidias grafikkort i Kina

Recent restrictions on the export of AI Chips to China from the US have made graphics cards some of the most sought-after items on the Huaqiangbei market, the world's largest electronics wholesale market. "There is still very high demand for high-end graphics cards, especially after the export restrictions imposed by the US government," said Cai Zhaojie, a salesperson at Huaqiangbei in the Futian tech area in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

The Biden administration last Friday revised sweeping export rules it implemented last October, making it harder for mainland China to access advanced AI processors, manufacturing equipment and even laptops built with those chips, according to a Reuters -report. The revised rules come into force on 4 April.

"After that, all retailers started hoarding the AI-related goods they could get their hands on and are now waiting to sell them at a high price, " Cai says. This has made Nvidia's GeForce RTX 4090 the most sought-after graphics card on the market. The effort by Huaqiangbei's dealers to build a stockpile of RTX 4090 graphics cards shows the far-reaching implications of Washington's latest restrictions on chip exports, further strengthening the original measures announced by the Biden administration in October 2022.

An update to the previous measures, announced last October, sought to close loopholes in the previous restrictions and prevent China's development of AI for military use, according to US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. Beijing said it opposes the revised controls announced last Friday, blaming the US government for changing the rules arbitrarily and harming the rights of both Chinese and US companies.

On the e-commerce platform JD.com, prices for the RTX 4090 range from 16,999 yuan to 19,999 yuan. Demand and prices for RTX 4090 graphics cards initially rose last October when Washington's updated chip export restrictions sparked a panic in the Chinese consumer market. Nvidia at the time removed its stock of RTX 4090 graphics cards from its official store on Chinese shopping platform JD.com and later from its official mainland website.

The US has rolled out several measures to hamper China's technological progress, particularly in the chip and AI sectors. The United States has also asked its allies to prevent their companies from servicing certain chip-making equipment for Chinese customers, according to a Reuters report last week.