US tech war with China is not just hurting tech companies, but also gamers, content creators

The newest round of restrictions on semiconductors that the US has imposed on China is not only having an effect on tech companies, but also an unexpected group of users — gamers and content creators.

The latest restrictions imposed by the United States on advanced semiconductor exports to China have triggered panic among mainland consumers vying for NVIDIA’s highly coveted RTX 4090 GPU. The flagship graphics, although prohibitively expensive, is highly sought after by video gamers and graphics designers in China, thanks to their exceptional computing performance.

Surprisingly though, it isn’t nearly as competent as an AI card like NVIDIA’s H100 series. The H100 and other AI-specific or data centre-specific cards have special drivers and codes that make them better suited for AI applications.

The anxiety among consumers has been further exacerbated by NVIDIA’s decision, as the world’s most valuable semiconductor company, to remove its inventory of RTX 4090 graphics cards from its official store on the Chinese e-commerce platform JD.com, effective Thursday.

Several major hardware partners of NVIDIA in China, like Asus, and MSI have also withdrawn their stock of RTX 4090 graphics cards from their respective online stores on platforms in China. This has only added to the concerns among consumers about the local availability of this graphics card.

Following the announcement of the US Commerce Department’s latest tech export controls on Tuesday, the retail price of the RTX 4090 skyrocketed to 15,000 yuan (approximately $2,050) in Shanghai’s bustling electronics market the very next day.

The sudden shortage of RTX 4090 graphics cards in China’s vast consumer market underscores the widespread impact of Washington’s latest semiconductor export restrictions, which build upon measures introduced by the Biden administration in October of the previous year.

NVIDIA is particularly affected by the new restrictions, as they entail blocking sales of two less powerful AI GPUs – the A800 and H800 – designed by the company for the Chinese market. These are modified versions of NVIDIA’s high-end A100 and H100 chips, which were banned for export to China under previous restrictions.

Launched in September 2022, the RTX 4090 graphics card boasts cutting-edge GPUs manufactured using a 5nm process. Its AI-powered chips deliver enhanced creativity and ultra-efficient productivity for tasks such as 3D rendering and 8K video editing, as well as lightning-fast gaming on Windows-based personal computers, as highlighted on the NVIDIA website.

Zhou Da, a computer component retailer for Asus in Shanghai, reported that many customers have approached him in the past few days, inquiring about the pricing and potential disruptions in shipment due to the new US restrictions. Zhou advised customers to make their purchases as soon as possible, acknowledging that the RTX 4090 may be considered over-the-top for current gaming needs.

A customer service representative from Colorful’s official Taobao store stated that all their RTX 4090 graphics cards had sold out by Wednesday, leaving uncertainty regarding future restocking.

Some NVIDIA partners, including Gigabyte, marked the RTX 4090 as “out of stock” in their online stores as of Thursday but did not remove their inventory.

The actions taken by NVIDIA and its partners to clear out their online stock of RTX 4090 graphics cards rapidly became a trending topic on the Chinese microblogging service Weibo. However, Weibo later displayed a message stating “unable to show the content of the topic, according to relevant laws and regulations” on the RTX 4090 discussion thread.

In a filing, NVIDIA mentioned that it might seek licenses for the affected products “to the extent that a customer requires products covered by the new licensing requirements.” Nevertheless, it expressed uncertainty about whether the US government would grant exceptions or licenses, and if so, in a timely manner.

As of now, Chinese consumers can still purchase available stock of RTX 4090 graphics cards from various third-party merchants online and physical stores. Prices have surged to between 40,000 and 50,000 yuan at some third-party stores on Taobao, nearly triple NVIDIA’s recommended retail price.

(With input from agencies)