Huawei Technologies prepares to start bulk shipping of their Ascend 910C AI chip to the Chinese market. The move by Chinese organizations to find replacement technology for Nvidia H20 happens after Washington imposed export restrictions on this chip.
What Is the Ascend 910C AI Chip?
The Ascend 910C represents a higher-performing iteration of the Ascend 910B chip that Huawei formerly released. The performance level of the 910C matches that of the Nvidia H100 chip through its dual 910B chip integration process. The performance upgrade of the chip creates a powerful platform for AI applications because it doubles the processing power and memory storage.
The 910C chip represents a major domestic progress in manufacturing due to its production by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) of China through their 7nm N+2 process. The U.S. government has shown interest in Sophgo chips that come from Taiwan-based TSMC and then get installed into the 910C units. Since 2020 TSMC has confirmed it does not provide materials to Huawei while also following all export standards.
Why Is This Development Important?
Breadth enforcement of export bans on Nvidia H20 chip technology has created an important hole within the Chinese market for AI hardware. With the release of Ascend 910C Huawei wants to give Chinese companies a domestic alternative for powerful processors that will replace the vacated market gap.
Chinese technological giants Baidu along with other companies have already submitted major orders for the Huawei Ascend chips which emphasizes the importance of this change. Baidu’s recent purchase of 1600 Ascend 910B chips proves that Huawei products have gained dominance as substitute options for Nvidia’s A100 chips in server installations.
Implications for the Global AI Chip Market
The AI chip innovations from Huawei bring transformative changes to the industry competition. High-performance chip production capabilities at domestic facilities makes Huawei a strong competitor against the established technology giant Nvidia. An increase in Chinese companies using Huawei’s AI chips will lessen the need for Nvidia’s products in China thus expectedly affecting Nvidia’s regional market share and overall revenue.
The domestic development of advanced AI chips by Huawei creates an example for countries worldwide to establish their semiconductor production which results in decreased dependence on foreign suppliers while building a more diverse global chip sector.
Looking Ahead
The entire industry observes Huawei’s planned delivery of its Ascend 910C AI chip because the company leads the next phase of its AI hardware development. The upcoming Ascend 920 chip release promises superior performance which positions Huawei strongly in the market as an AI hardware solutions provider.
Huawei’s AI chip development drives both domestic technological transformation in China and strong competition against worldwide marketplace leaders. The worldwide market for AI chips will experience substantial changes because Huawei continues to innovate while broadening its product line.
