Chinese traders still confident of Nvidia GPU access amid Jensen Huang scandal

The market for high-end graphics cards in China recently saw significant price fluctuations. The GeForce RTX 5090, a top-of-the-range graphics processing unit (GPU) from US chip giant Nvidia, experienced a sharp price increase last month in Shenzhen’s Huaqiangbei market, a major electronics trading center. Graphics cards are specialized computer components crucial for demanding tasks including advanced gaming and AI acceleration.

According to merchants at the market, the initial price surge for the GeForce RTX 5090, which reportedly peaked at over 60,000 yuan (US$8,990), was primarily driven by unconfirmed rumors. These rumors suggested that Nvidia intended to cease production of consumer-grade graphics cards like the RTX 5090 to focus resources on its high-end enterprise GPUs, which are typically used in data centers for AI and scientific computing.

However, following Nvidia's denial of these specific production reports, the price trajectory reversed. The cost of the GeForce RTX 5090 has since fallen, with reports indicating prices around 50,000 yuan, and one vendor quoting as low as 48,500 yuan. This suggests that, in the immediate term, market speculation and subsequent clarifications regarding production plans have been more influential on the prices of these specific high-end consumer GPUs than broader discussions around US export controls.