Production of Nvidia’s H20 accelerator, developed specifically for the Chinese market, has been completely halted. Built on the Hopper architecture and featuring limited specifications, the H20 model was previously discontinued due to export restrictions imposed on China. Now, production of the H20 has been suspended, and the TSMC production lines dedicated to it have been diverted to other projects.
Nvidia officially withdraws from the Chinese market
The H20 was a temporary solution developed to comply with the embargo imposed by the United States. However, the product was soon subject to export restrictions. Following these developments, Nvidia does not plan to re-produce the H20. The cancellation of the production line represents a significant shift in Nvidia’s strategy in the Chinese market.
Despite the discontinuation of the H20, Nvidia still maintains stock, including both packaged, ready-to-ship accelerators and unfinished wafer-level chips. It is not yet clear how much of this stock will be used or whether it will be able to fulfill orders in China.
Nvidia is working on a new accelerator based on the Blackwell architecture to replace the discontinued H20. However, it is not yet known whether this model will be available for China. Blackwell-based GPUs are currently only targeted at markets outside of China. While it is possible that the company may develop a new limited-edition model for China in the future, no official announcement has been made.
Meanwhile, the high-performance memory needed for the new accelerators is also facing supply shortages. It has been reported that SK hynix has informed Nvidia of potential delays in memory production, which could disrupt the production schedule of the next-generation models.
The company’s current silence ahead of the financial results release period is noteworthy. However, investors are closely monitoring developments regarding whether sales to China can be resumed, how production restrictions will be overcome, and what impact these will have on the financial statements.
