Chinese AI Semiconductor Manufacturers Increase Prices Due to HBM Scarcity

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AI semiconductor producers in China, including Huawei and Cambricon, have elevated their prices in response to a worldwide high-bandwidth memory shortage that has escalated production expenses. The cost of Huawei’s Ascend 950DT accelerator has surged past 250,000 yuan, reflecting an increase of approximately 20% to 50% compared to estimates from two months prior. Meanwhile, Cambricon has adjusted the pricing of its planned 690 chip upward by 20% to 30%. These price hikes are occurring as U.S. export restrictions limit access to advanced HBM, forcing Chinese companies to rely on more costly grey-market options. These increased costs may hinder the growth of domestic AI computing capabilities as China seeks alternatives to Nvidia's processors.  Disclosure: This video contains stock footage and content created or enhanced using Al-assisted tools. ai-generated

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00:00China's AI chip industry is facing rising costs as a global memory shortage tightens supplies.

00:06Huawei has raised the indicated price of its Ascend 950DT AI accelerator to more than 250,000

00:14yuan. That is up between 20% and 50% from quotes given to customers just two months ago.

00:20CamberCon has also increased the indicated price of its planned 690 chip by 20% to 30%.

00:27Smaller Chinese chipmakers, Medex and Elevator Corks, have reportedly made similar increases.

00:33The key pressure point is high-bandwidth memory, or HBM. HBM allows AI processors to access huge

00:40amounts of data at very high speeds. But advanced HBM supplies to China have become increasingly

00:46difficult to obtain. U.S. export controls tightened restrictions on certain advanced HBM products

00:52in December 2024. Chinese companies have since relied more heavily on expensive gray market

00:58supplies. Sources say this memory can cost several times more than supplies available outside China.

01:04That higher cost is now feeding directly into the price of AI accelerator cards.

01:09Huawei's older Ascend 950PR has also climbed to more than 80,000 yuan per card. Its Ascend 920C board

01:17has risen above 110,000 yuan from about 90,000 yuan. The increases highlight a growing challenge for

01:24China's effort to build domestic AI computing capacity. As demand for AI infrastructure grows,

01:30access to advanced memory could remain a major bottleneck for Chinese chipmakers.

01:35Disclosure. This video contains stock footage and content created or enhanced using AI-assisted tools.

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