Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) is scrambling to meet a surge in demand for its high-end H200 artificial intelligence chips from Chinese technology companies, approaching its primary manufacturer, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) to significantly ramp up production capacity.
Chinese tech leaders have placed orders for more than 2 million H200 chips for delivery in 2026, according to people familiar with the matter.
The request far outstrips Nvidia’s current available stock of approximately 700,000 units, two of the people said.
While the exact scale of the additional volume Nvidia seeks from TSMC remains under wraps, a third source indicated that Nvidia has requested the chipmaker begin work in the second quarter of 2026.
The rush to expand H200 production comes at a delicate time for the Santa Clara-based company, which has spent the last year shifting its focus toward its next-generation Blackwell and upcoming Rubin architectures.
By returning to the Hopper-based H200, which uses TSMC’s 4-nanometer process, Nvidia must now balance a resurgence in Chinese demand against the needs of U.S. and global customers for its newest hardware.
Regulatory risks remain a primary hurdle.
While the administration of President Donald Trump recently authorized exports of the H200 to China—subject to a 25% fee—Beijing has yet to grant its own final approval for the shipments.
Chinese officials are currently weighing the benefits of advanced foreign silicon against the potential to slow the development of domestic champions like Huawei.
One compromise being discussed would require Chinese firms to purchase a set ratio of domestic chips for every Nvidia processor imported.
In internal discussions, Nvidia has set a pricing benchmark for Chinese clients at approximately $27,000 per chip, sources said.
For the local market, an eight-chip module is expected to retail for around 1.5 million yuan ($207,000).
While this is a premium over the now-defunct H20 model, Chinese internet firms reportedly view it as a bargain; the H200 offers six times the performance of its predecessor and carries a 15% discount compared to current grey-market prices.
ByteDance is leading the charge, with plans to spend roughly 100 billion yuan on Nvidia chips in 2026 if the H200 sales are greenlit.
This represents a significant jump from its estimated 85 billion yuan spend in 2025.