Chinese AI chip manufacturers are raising prices by 20% to 50% due to a severe shortage of high-bandwidth memory (HBM). This trend is driven by US export restrictions on advanced memory modules, which have been in effect since December 2024, and high global demand for AI infrastructure.
Huawei has increased prices for its accelerator cards. The Ascend 950DT now costs over ¥250 000, representing a 20-50% rise compared to quotes from two months ago. The Ascend 950PR price climbed by approximately 30% to over ¥80 000, while the Ascend 910C rose by 22% to exceed ¥110 000.
Other manufacturers are following suit. Cambricon raised the price of its upcoming 690 chip by 20-30%, with similar adjustments reported by MetaX and Iluvatar CoreX. Due to supply constraints, some models are not expected to be available until at least Q4 2026.
To secure components, Chinese firms are increasingly turning to the grey market, where supply is less reliable and costs are higher. Meanwhile, Iluvatar CoreX has reallocated its inventory to supply 100 000 GPU units to ByteDance.
