NVIDIA Under Antitrust Investigation in China Amid Escalating Chip Tensions

[Nomad76]

Today China announced an investigation into NVIDIA for possible violations of antitrust laws. This is apparently in retaliation for the recent U.S. embargo on semiconductor exports, Reuters reported. China's State Administration for Market Regulatory Affairs (SAMR) did not provide specific details about the antitrust violations however it said they may allegedly be linked to NVIDIA's acquisition of Mellanox Technologies in 2020. NVIDIA once dominated China's AI market with over 90% of the market share, however, it now generates just 17% of its revenue from the region, down from 26% two years ago. The decline in income is a direct result of U.S. export controls as NVIDIA was forced to develop Chinese-specific chip versions.

The investigation on NVIDIA mirrors China's 2013 antitrust probe against Qualcomm's local subsidiary for overcharging and abusing market position in wireless communication standards. The investigation resulted in a $975 million fine which Qualcomm agreed to pay. Recently, the United States announced additional export restrictions adding 140 Chinese companies from the semiconductor industry including chip equipment manufacturers. Shortly after, China announced a ban on exports of key minerals (gallium, germanium, and antimony) while Chinese industry associations urged domestic companies to avoid U.S.-made chips.



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[AnarchoPrimitiv]

Hmmm...potential tariffs will definitely improve this situation....

 

[Jack1n]

As an Nvidia shareholder, I am ok with the US sticking it to China and any potential fallout.

 

[john_]

As an Nvidia shareholder, I am ok with the US sticking it to China and any potential fallout.

.... because Nvidia is selling everything it can produce instantly, with demand from all around the globe and it doesn't really loses anything from all this US vs China trade conflict.

 

[Daven]

When just one person stops buying from Nvidia, Nvidia losses a little revenue. When an entire country as large as China stops buying from Nvidia, Nvidia's stock will tank by an order of magnitude and there will be massive layouts/product cancellations. Be careful what you wish for.

 

[john_]

If there is a line of customers and a few get of the line, Nvidia doesn't really loses. Nvidia only loses the chance to charge more, because if China was in line to buy a couple million GPUs, others like Musk would had to pay a higher premium to get priority. But right now, Nvidia is putting it's customers in a waiting line. It doesn't really lose sales, because it doesn't have the capacity anyway to cover the demand from China plus all the demand from it's current customers.

 

[boidsonly]

What the CCP can not get by outright purchase or bribery, it will get by theft. This is nothing more than an a tit-for-tat. The real issue is all of these High Tech Corporations waited too long to invest in America-they chased cheap labor and fast profits. This may be a case where it severely bites them in the corporate bottom line. Some fatally.

 

[lilhasselhoffer]

So...right now the supply is greatly exceeded by the demand. This means that for every single unit sold you have a demand for more than that unit...which means that China not being able to buy doesn't really matter to anybody but scalpers, who profit from selling people what they cannot have.

Regarding the Chinese government suing for anti-trust...it's a bad joke. If today Nvidia sold no cards to China ever again they'd be losing virtually nothing. This is the inevitable retaliation against a Trump administration that seeks to stifle their threat to Western dominance, because you cannot simply create a materials science process by reverse engineering a part. This is why things like ceramic jet engine blades, microchips, and vapor deposition coatings are a Western thing...while the Chinese versions are all bout 20 years behind because they're copying things without actually knowing what makes them special in processing.

This, of course, is happening in the midst of dumping EVs onto the market. A decision that was made because China got so good at making the slightly worse lithium-iron-phosphate batteries and because none of the tech was unique they could absolutely pump out a dozen "new" car companies a year...until they oversaturated the market with crap. Whether you like it or not, China is unlikely to ever respect Western rules, unless they benefit them. Part of that is them using the legal system just as punitively as the West, to lash out when their machinations are stopped. Unfortunately it was after the West helped build the Great Firewall...so it's not like they're angels either.

 

[kondamin]

Why open this box now, they were going to get practically a full 5090 this time around

 

[Chrispy_]

Both Nvidia and China can suck it.

China aren't supposed to be getting Nvidia tech anyway - Nvidia developing products to workaround the embargos is a violation of the spirit of the law, via loopholes and weasel-wording. China complaining about it is even worse - it's like publicly complaining that the dodgy, under-the-table deal you made to skirt the government intent wasn't ideal. IDK, maybe "shut the f*ck up and don't draw attention to your continued purchase of Nvidia tech for AI" is what I'd be doing in China's situation, maybe?

 

[Visible Noise]

China aren't supposed to be getting Nvidia tech anyway

Citation needed.

You know there’s a compute power formula in export controls, right?

Nvidia developing products to workaround the embargos is a violation of the spirit of the law, via loopholes and weasel-wording.

No, it’s called following the law.

Your favorite company did the same thing.

"China is a very important market for us, certainly across our portfolio. As we think about certainly the accelerator market, our plan is to, of course, be fully compliant with U.S. export controls. But we do believe there's an opportunity to develop products for our customer set in China, that is looking for AI solutions, and we'll continue to work in that direction," stated AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su during the company's latest earnings call.

Except they fucked it up.

US officials have told Advanced Micro Devices Inc. that the artificial intelligence chip it tailored for the Chinese market is too powerful to sell without a license, ensnaring another American semiconductor company in Washington’s crackdown on exports of advanced technologies.

 

[Readlight]

How we in EU can trust all these modem, router devices, chips made in china, taiwan, and america company's?

 

[Visible Noise]

How we in EU can trust all these modem, router devices, chips made in china, taiwan, and america company's?

You can’t.

 

[Crackong]

allegedly be linked to NVIDIA's acquisition of Mellanox Technologies in 2020

While both companies aren't based in China, and the acquisition already done 4 and a half years ago.

I will say there is no political reason behind it.
Could be just another blackmail attempt to grab some money.
Just happens it is Nvidia this time.

 

[StimpsonJCat]

I am quite sure that China gets all the nGreedia chips it wants, one way or the other.

 

[Vayra86]

When just one person stops buying from Nvidia, Nvidia losses a little revenue. When an entire country as large as China stops buying from Nvidia, Nvidia's stock will tank by an order of magnitude and there will be massive layouts/product cancellations. Be careful what you wish for.

Its really quite fine. Nvidia has a market they can turn back to. Gaming. They don't need to be a behemoth to support that market. They'll also still keep selling professional GPUs.

AI and crypto growth isn't the growth you should want.

 

[lexluthermiester]

And China losses NVidia... Well done boneheads(@ Chinese Gov)

 

[Jack1n]

.... because Nvidia is selling everything it can produce instantly, with demand from all around the globe and it doesn't really loses anything from all this US vs China trade conflict.

More demand for the same supply will always mean more money.

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

More demand for the same supply will always mean more money.

Not when you cannot meet demand either way and increasing prices gets you antitrust investigations.

The GPU market is not a healthy market.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Not when you cannot meet demand either way and increasing prices gets you antitrust investigations.

Imagine that.

The GPU market is not a healthy market.

When companies are being greedy and over-charging for video cards, that is to be expected..

 

[TheDigitalJedi]

I watched some videos n YouTube and read a few articles about Nvidia's legal troubles worldwide. The investigation are mainly about anti trust law violations, monopolizing markets and sales practices.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist at all. My gut feeling is that Jenson Huang may get into major trouble for selling 5090s to China, which can possibly be unlocked to their full potential. The spotlight is also on Nvidia for taxes not properly paid in full to the tune of 6-8 billion dollars.

The green team has money for centuries and everyone wants a piece. They also need to do the right thing for their customers.