China Orders Top 6 Million Nvidia Cards Amid Limited Global Production in 2027
Key Facts
Customer orders in China have exceeded 6 million RTX PRO 5500 cards, while Nvidia cannot guarantee it will fulfill the orders, Reuters reported on October 20, 2026, citing people familiar with the matter. ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent together ordered more than 3 million cards, worth a total of over $35 billion. Sources said demand from Chinese technology companies exceeds planned production. Partners may receive only 5% to 10% of the volumes they ordered, according to a source cited by Reuters. The gap indicates that the size of the orders does not mean the cards are available or will be delivered in the same quantities.
The card is priced at about $11,400 per unit, according to two sources cited by Reuters, explaining why the announced value of the three companies’ orders exceeds $35 billion. Sources said Nvidia may produce no more than 3 million RTX PRO 5500 cards globally in 2027. That ceiling is below total customer orders in China, which exceeded 6 million cards, and below the orders of the three companies alone. The company told customers that initial samples are expected in December 2026, with commercial deliveries set to begin in the first quarter of 2027. The quantities actually available will therefore become clearer as samples arrive and commercial shipments begin.
The RTX PRO 5500 is designed for workstations and powerful professional computers, not the large data center clusters that use Nvidia’s most advanced processors. The company describes the card as geared toward generative AI applications and language-model inference, and it includes 84 gigabytes of GDDR7 memory. The Chinese orders come amid U.S. export restrictions that limit some advanced chips from reaching buyers in China. Reuters reported that U.S. controls do not allow sales of the Blackwell-based B300 chip to Chinese buyers, while exports of the Hopper-based H200 are subject to case-by-case review and licensing conditions. An Nvidia spokesperson said China’s workstation chip and card makers had seen “unprecedented growth since 2022,” when the restrictions were first imposed.
The allocation of manufacturing capacity is an additional constraint on RTX PRO 5500 supply. Nvidia is expected to direct a large portion of its capacity at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to the Rubin platform starting in 2027. Rubin was designed for large-scale data centers, which could leave less capacity for workstation products such as the RTX PRO 5500. Tansun Technology disclosed on October 13 an agreement to buy 20,000 cards from an unidentified party. The company warned that delivery could be delayed or the quantity reduced, indicating that supply risks predated the report of the larger orders.
Alongside the demand report, investors informed a judge on October 23, 2026, that they had reached a settlement agreement in a class-action lawsuit over Nvidia’s earlier disclosures concerning cryptocurrency mining. The lawsuit concerns allegations that the company and some of its executives made misleading statements about channel inventory and mining’s effect on demand for graphics processing units between May 10, 2017, and November 14, 2018. The court certified the class on March 25, 2026, covering those who bought or acquired Nvidia shares between August 10, 2017, and November 15, 2018, subject to specified exclusions. The case dates to a period when cryptocurrency mining profitability declined, causing Nvidia revenue to fall short of expectations, according to the Associated Press. The agency reported that the stock fell 28% afterward in 2018.
The shareholder lawsuit remains separate from an earlier action by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC said Nvidia had failed to disclose the effect of cryptocurrency mining on its gaming business, and the company agreed in 2022 to a cease-and-desist order and a civil penalty of $5.5 million. The agreement was reached “without admitting or denying” the SEC’s findings, according to its statement. In the class-action case, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Nvidia’s petition to review the case on December 11, 2024, as improperly filed, then issued its ruling on January 13, 2025. That left the appeal process in place and was not a ruling on the merits in favor of investors.
Nvidia shares closed at $210.96 on October 23, 2026, according to EL7 data. The close came on the day the judge was informed of the settlement agreement in the shareholder lawsuit, after Reuters published its report on the Chinese orders on October 20. For the cards, the next milestones begin with the arrival of initial samples in December 2026. Commercial deliveries are expected to begin in the first quarter of 2027. In the same year, Nvidia is expected to allocate a large portion of its capacity at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to the Rubin platform.