China has told major firms to cancel orders for the Nvidia (NVDA) RTX6000D chip, according to a Financial Times report. The move came from the Cyberspace Administration of China, which asked companies such as Alibaba (BABA), ByteDance, and Baidu (BIDU) to halt testing of the product. This step adds to the pressure on U.S. chipmakers in the country.
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Shares of Nvidia slipped 1.61% yesterday and continued the trend with an additional decline of about 1.65% in pre-market trading on the back of the news.
The RTX6000D is not one of Nvidia’s top AI accelerators, such as the H100. Instead, it was designed as a lower-tier card that could meet U.S. export rules while still serving the Chinese market. As noted in our report yesterday, the chip has faced weak demand since launch. Buyers in China have said the RTX6000D is too slow for advanced AI work and too costly at about $7,000 per unit. Some even noted that the RTX 5090, which is banned from official sales but available on the gray market, offers stronger output at less than half the price.
Demand vs Supply
Analysts had expected strong sales when the RTX6000D began shipping. JPMorgan (JPM) had projected about 1.5 million units for the second half of this year, while Morgan Stanley (MS) had forecast two million units. The early response from buyers has already shown a gap between those forecasts and actual orders. Now with the new ban, that gap is likely to widen.
At the same time, Chinese firms continue to wait for updates on the Nvidia H20 chip. That model received U.S. clearance in July, but shipments have not moved ahead. There is also hope among local firms that the B30A chip will be allowed in, which would provide more power than the H20. Each of these products was built to match trade rules while giving China access to scaled-down versions of Nvidia’s global chips.
Local Push
The new directive also reflects China’s effort to speed up the use of domestic chips. Alibaba has promoted its T-Head line, which has already signed a deal with a leading wireless carrier. Baidu and Tencent (TCEHY) are also working on in-house models. While demand for Nvidia hardware remains high worldwide, the shift in China shows how trade limits are shaping local decisions.
Is Nvidia Stock a Buy?
Nvidia continues to hold the Street’s endorsement with a Strong Buy consensus rating. The average NVDA price target is $211.11, implying a 20.72% upside from the current price.
