China Orders Top 6 Million Nvidia Cards as Production Expected to Be Limited in 2027
Key Facts
Customer orders in China have topped 6 million RTX PRO 5500 cards, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter, with ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent together ordering more than 3 million cards. Nvidia cannot guarantee it will meet the orders in full, the sources said, putting the reported demand up against expected supply constraints. The news comes as Nvidia said in its filing for the second quarter of fiscal 2027 that it had been unable, with approval from the U.S. and Chinese governments, to offer a competitive product at scale for data centers in China. It also said U.S. export controls cover products above certain performance thresholds. By contrast, the company said permitted H200 shipments to China accounted for less than 1% of data center revenue in its latest quarter, and that the shipments are inspected in the United States before being sent.
Estimates cited by Reuters from sources suggest Nvidia may be able to produce no more than 3 million RTX PRO 5500 cards globally in 2027, fewer than the more than 6 million total orders from China. Another source told the news agency that some partners may receive only 5% to 10% of the quantities they ordered. The gap shows that reported orders do not mean the same quantities will be shipped. The three Chinese technology companies were among the largest customers for the new card, according to the report. Nvidia has not guaranteed it will meet the orders in full, according to the sources cited by Reuters.
Nvidia said export restrictions had previously affected its products intended for China; in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, it incurred a $4.5 billion charge related to inventory and purchase commitments for H20 products. The company attributed this to a decline in demand for those products after U.S. licensing requirements were imposed. In its filing for the second quarter of fiscal 2027, it said it had been unable to develop a competitive product and offer it for broad distribution in China’s data center market with approval from Washington and Beijing. It also excluded any revenue from data center computing in China from its August forecast for the third quarter of fiscal 2027. This puts current demand for the RTX PRO 5500 in the context of a market where Nvidia product sales remain constrained by controls and approval requirements.
At the company level, Nvidia revenue in the second quarter, which ended July 26, 2026, was about $96.2 billion, up 106% from the same period a year earlier, while data center revenue reached $89 billion. The company said permitted H200 shipments to China accounted for less than 1% of the sector’s revenue in its latest quarter. Nvidia shares closed at $202.06 on November 2, 2026, according to EL7 data. The available data do not directly link the closing price to card orders or export restrictions. The reported data center results therefore remain separate from the possibility of new shipments reaching Chinese buyers.
Nvidia told customers that initial samples of the RTX PRO 5500 could arrive in December, with commercial deliveries set to begin in the first quarter of 2027, Reuters reported. The schedule follows source estimates that global production may not exceed 3 million cards during 2027, with some partners potentially receiving only a limited share of their orders. China’s October trade balance data are due on November 10, 2026, at 03:00 GMT, according to the economic calendar. China’s trade surplus in yuan rose to 905.97 billion yuan in September, from 809.3 billion yuan in August. In September, exports rose 29.6% year over year to 3,034.39 billion yuan, while imports increased 24.6% to 1,918.11 billion yuan.