[News] NVIDIA Denies Supply Suspension Rumors in China, Boosts Local Hiring for Self-Driving

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Following Beijing’s antitrust investigation targeting NVIDIA earlier this week, rumors have been circulating among netizens that the U.S. chip giant intentionally removed items from its online store on Tmall, China’s largest e-commerce platform. However, NVIDIA‘s official Weibo account refuted the speculations that it has halted supply to China.

NVIDIA emphasized in a statement on December 12^th that China is an important market for the company, and it remains committed to providing Chinese customers with products and services of the best quality and highest performance.

(Credit: NVIDIA’s Weibo)

According to a report from South China Morning Post, NVIDIA’s GeForce store on Alibaba Group’s Tmall platform, launched in 2016, has amassed over 123,000 followers. While the store itself does not sell products directly, it provides links to third-party sellers offering gaming laptops equipped with GeForce graphics cards.

According to South China Morning Post, NVIDIA clarified that its Tmall store has never held inventory. A third-party e-commerce analyst cited by the report, after examining the store’s sales history, confirmed that it shows no transaction records.

It is worth noting that the debate follows shortly after China’s antitrust probe into NVIDIA. The investigation, disclosed on December 9th, is reportedly targeting NVIDIA’s recent conduct and the terms of its acquisition of Mellanox Technologies approved by Beijing four years ago.

NVIDIA Makes Strides in China, Adding 200 Staff in Beijing This Year

Meanwhile, NVIDIA has been aggressively expanding its workforce in China recently. A latest Bloomberg report notes that NVIDIA will conclude 2024 with approximately 4,000 employees, up from around 3,000 at the year’s start.

A key aspect of this growth involved adding about 200 employees in Beijing to strengthen its team of researchers focused on self-driving technology, the report suggests, adding that NVIDIA has also grown its after-sales service and networking software development teams in China.

As China continues to be a key market and a vital research hub for the U.S. chipmaker, NVIDIA has significantly expanded its presence in the market, now employing nearly 600 people in Beijing, as per Bloomberg. It also recently opened a new office in the Zhongguancun tech hub, according to sources cited by the report.

Despite U.S. trade restrictions limiting the sale of its most advanced semiconductors in China, the country generated USD 5.4 billion in revenue for NVIDIA in the September quarter, according to Bloomberg.

Read more

• [News] China Launches Antitrust Probe into NVIDIA over Mellanox Deal, Heightening U.S. Chip Tensions
• [News] China Opens Antitrust Probe Against NVIDIA, Fines Could Hit $5 Billion

(Photo credit: NVIDIA)