Chinese technology giants ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent have placed combined orders for more than 3 million Nvidia RTX PRO 5500 graphics cards, with a potential sticker value above $35 billion. According to a Reuters report on October 20, the orders represent roughly $11,400 per card and highlight intensifying demand for Nvidia hardware in China despite Washington's semiconductor export restrictions.
Nvidia has warned customers and partners that it cannot guarantee it can fill the orders. Two sources told Reuters that demand from Chinese technology companies far exceeds planned production. One source said partners might receive only 5% to 10% of requested quantities, while another said Nvidia could manufacture no more than 3 million RTX PRO 5500 cards globally in 2027. Total orders from Chinese customers have already passed 6 million units, according to two sources.
The RTX PRO 5500 is a workstation graphics card rather than a data-centre processor for training massive AI models. It is less powerful than Nvidia's Hopper-based H200 and Blackwell-based B300 chips. Under current US export controls, the B300 cannot be sold to Chinese buyers, while H200 exports are reviewed case by case and carry licensing conditions.
Chinese companies mainly want the cards for AI inference, the process of running trained models to generate chatbot responses. Inference typically requires less computing power than training. Nvidia previously launched the RTX 6000D in mid-2025, but major Chinese firms initially showed little interest. As hopes faded that Washington would allow sales of more powerful chips, the new card became more attractive. The RTX 6000D has since been discontinued and its price in China has doubled, one source said.
Production constraints and export controls remain central to the story. Starting in 2027, Nvidia is expected to devote much of its Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co capacity to Rubin, its next-generation data-centre platform. An Nvidia spokesperson criticised 'outdated US export controls' and China's own limits on US imports, noting that Chinese manufacturers of workstation chips and graphics cards have experienced 'unprecedented growth since 2022.' CEO Jensen Huang has said restrictions cut Nvidia's share of China's AI data-centre chip market from a near monopoly to effectively nothing.
On October 13, Shenzhen-listed Tansun Technology said it agreed to buy 20,000 RTX PRO 5500 cards from an unnamed counterparty and warned that supply shortages and overseas technology controls could delay deliveries. Early samples are expected in December, with commercial deliveries set for the first quarter of 2027.
