According to an IDC report, Nvidia's share of the Chinese data-center AI chip market declined to 34% in the first half of 2026. During this period, the company shipped 678,000 units to China, marking a 44% decrease compared to the same period in 2025.
Huawei increased its market share to 28% by delivering 572,000 units, up from over 300,000 units a year prior. The total volume of the Chinese AI accelerator market reached 2.008 million units in the first half of 2026.
The broader domestic sector also showed growth, with nine out of eleven tracked Chinese vendors reporting year-over-year increases. T-Head held 7% of the market, Cambricon 5%, Kunlunxin 4%, and Hygon 3%.
For the first time, non-GPU accelerators, such as ASICs and NPUs, surpassed GPUs in sales volume. Shipments of non-GPU units rose by nearly 80% to 1.016 million, while GPU shipments fell by 26% to 991,000 units.
Analysts attribute these shifts to US export controls on advanced AI chips and China's strategic focus on domestic production and AI self-sufficiency.
