Nvidia's China AI-chip share falls as Huawei closes gap, report finds

Nvidia's dominance in China's data-center AI chip market has eroded, falling to 34% in the first half of 2026, according to an IDC report. The US chipmaker shipped 678,000 AI accelerators to China, a 44% decline from the previous year. Huawei has made significant strides, capturing 28% of the market with 572,000 AI accelerators shipped, up from over 300,000 a year prior.

Alibaba's T-Head and Cambricon followed with 7% and 5%, respectively. Baidu's Kunlunxin and Hygon held 4% and 3% shares. Nine other Chinese chipmakers saw shipments increase from a year earlier. In total, 2.008 million AI-accelerator units were shipped in China's first half. GPU shipments, the most common type, fell 26% to 991,000 units, as China continues to restrict access to Nvidia's most powerful chips due to US export controls.

Huawei, T-Head, Kunlunxin and Cambricon dominate the non-GPU segment, which IDC predicts will see 19% growth in shipments this year, despite a 9% decline in GPU sales.