DEDUPEDByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent have reportedly ordered more than 3 million of Nvidia's new RTX PRO 5500 graphics cards, according to a report citing two people familiar with the matter. At about $11,400 each, the combined sticker price comes to more than $35 billion. The orders are reportedly mainly for inference, meaning running AI models rather than training them.
The RTX PRO 5500 is a workstation chip, built for professional computers rather than large data-center clusters. It is still among the most powerful Nvidia chips Chinese buyers can legally get. Blackwell-based B300 data-center chips cannot be sold to China, and exports of Hopper-based H200 chips are reviewed case by case with licensing conditions. That leaves export-compliant cards like this one as the main route.
Supply is the catch. One source said Nvidia told partners they might receive only 5% to 10% of the quantities they requested. Another said Nvidia indicated it could produce no more than 3 million RTX PRO 5500 cards worldwide in 2027. Total orders from Chinese customers reportedly exceeded 6 million. One report put samples in December and commercial deliveries from early 2027.
An Nvidia spokesperson said Chinese producers of workstation chips have seen unprecedented growth since curbs were imposed in 2022, and that US firms are restricted by outdated export controls and China's own limit on US imports. The three companies did not respond to requests for comment.
Our take
The size of this order shows how hungry Chinese AI buyers are for any capable hardware the export rules allow. But the reported 5% to 10% fill rate means the headline number says more about demand than about what will actually ship.
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