China’s AI chipmakers raise prices as HBM shortage bites
Huawei Technologies and Cambricon have raised prices for AI processors as soaring high-bandwidth memory costs squeeze efforts to build domestic alternatives to Nvidia.
High-bandwidth memory (HBM) is essential for AI computing, enabling processors to swiftly access large amounts of data. Chinese AI chipmakers, such as Huawei Technologies and Cambricon, have recently increased prices for their AI processors due to a shortage of HBM components. Huawei lifted the price of its Ascend 950DT accelerator card by 20% to 50%, while Cambricon raised the price of its next-generation chip, tentatively named the 690, by 20% to 30%.
Smaller rivals MetaX and Iluvatar CoreX also raised their prices. This price hike is a consequence of the worldwide shortage of HBM, which is mainly dominated by South Korea's SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics, and US-based Micron Technology. Since Washington tightened export controls on advanced HBM products to China in December 2024, Chinese chipmakers have increasingly turned to grey-market channels to secure supplies.
The higher prices directly impact the production costs of AI accelerators, as memory accounts for a considerable portion of their costs. The price hikes put pressure on Chinese chipmakers, who are striving to replace Nvidia products with domestic alternatives.
Written by urgent.news from Free Malaysia Today's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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- China’s AI chipmakers raise prices as HBM shortage bites freemalaysiatoday.com
- China's AI chipmakers raise prices as high-bandwidth memory shortage bites economictimes.indiatimes.com
- Sources: Chinese AI chipmakers Huawei, Cambricon, MetaX, and Iluvatar CoreX have raised prices for current and next-gen chips by 20%-50% due to rising HBM costs (Reuters) reuters.com
- China’s AI Chipmakers Raise Prices as HBM Shortage Drives Up Costs itp.net
