U.S. export curbs on advanced chips accelerate China’s push for domestic substitutes
Huawei booth under the theme of ‘Advancing All Intelligence’ at MWC 2026 in Barcelona, Spain, on April 2 (local time). (photo courtesy of Huawei)
In the Chinese AI accelerator market, which was once dominated by Nvidia due to stringent U.S. semiconductor export controls, local Chinese companies, led by Huawei, are rapidly expanding their territory with formidable momentum, surpassing a 40% market share.
According to a report by market research firm IDC on the 2nd (local time), local chip manufacturers recorded approximately 41% of the market share in China’s AI accelerator server market last year. This is interpreted as a result of the Chinese government agencies and companies accelerating ‘domestic substitution’ in response to the U.S. government’s restrictions on advanced semiconductor exports to China, including those from Nvidia.
The report indicates that the total shipments of AI accelerator cards within China reached approximately 4 million units in 2025. Nvidia maintained its top position with a 55% share, shipping about 2.2 million units, but its previously overwhelming dominance has noticeably weakened. AMD also secured only a 4% share, shipping approximately 160,000 units.
Conversely, local Chinese companies emerged as a major pillar of the market, shipping a total of 1.65 million accelerator cards. In particular, Huawei stood tall as a leader, accounting for more than half of the total local brand shipments by shipping approximately 812,000 AI chips.
Following Huawei, Alibaba’s chip design division, “T-Head,” ranked second with approximately 265,000 units. Baidu’s “Kunlunxin” and Cambricon jointly secured third place, each shipping 116,000 units. Additionally, local startups such as “Hygon,” “MetaX,” and “Iluvatar CoreX” are expanding the ecosystem by handling the remaining volume.
Behind these changes lies the strong policy support from both the central and local governments of China. Last year, the Chinese government fostered a new AI infrastructure investment boom, encouraging provinces to establish ‘intelligent computing centers.’ In this process, the implicit ‘Buy China’ directive, which promotes the adoption of domestic products, opened up immense opportunities for local chip manufacturers.
Industry analysts suggest that U.S. regulations have, paradoxically, become a catalyst for accelerating China’s semiconductor self-sufficiency. They anticipate that as Chinese companies like Huawei quickly fill Nvidia’s void, the geopolitical landscape of the global semiconductor market will undergo even faster changes.
Kim Eun-jin
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