Nvidia "Disappointed" as China Business Falls Flat Amid Trade War

As the dust settles on Nvidia’s (NVDA) solid earnings beat and guidance raise, Laura Bratton wrote for Yahoo Finance that China remains a sore spot for the artificial intelligence (AI) chipmaker.

Nvidia recorded just $50 million in sales of its H20 chips. (Photo: NVIDIA Facebook)

Grace O’Donnell also reported for the same outlet on Nov. 21, 2025.

The US effectively banned Nvidia from selling its H20 chips to China in April, a move only partially reversed in August when President Trump agreed to grant export licenses for a share of those revenues.

By then, Beijing had forbidden its own tech firms from buying the chips.

“Nvidia's China business faltered in the AI chipmaker’s third quarter as a trade war with the US rolled on,” Bratton reported.

Nvidia recorded just $50 million in sales of its H20 chips — less powerful versions of its Hopper GPUs designed for the China market to comply with tightening US export controls — during the three months through Oct. 26.

“Sizable purchase orders never materialized in the quarter due to geopolitical issues and the increasingly competitive market in China,” said Nvidia CFO Colette Kress during a call with analysts following the release of the company’s quarterly earnings results.

Overall, Nvidia’s revenue from China was $2.8 billion, or 5% of its total sales for the quarter — far lower than the $8.4 billion projected by Wall Street analysts, Bloomberg data showed.