US export controls have cut Nvidia's share of China's AI chip market to 34 percent, according to a report by the Korea Economic Daily (JKN). Huawei has taken 28 percent of the same market, the report states, closing most of the gap with the American supplier.

The numbers mark a sharp reversal for Nvidia. Before Washington tightened export rules, the company held roughly 95 percent of China's AI accelerator market. That figure comes from earlier analyst estimates cited in the reporting. No confirmed date for the new 34 percent figure was given, and JKN did not name its data source.

What changed for Nvidia?

Washington has restricted Nvidia's most advanced data center products. The A100 and H100 were blocked first. Later rules also blocked the modified A800 and H800, which Nvidia had built specifically to stay inside Chinese regulatory limits. The company then designed the H20 for China. That chip, too, now faces curbs.

Each redesign cost performance. Each redesign also cost Nvidia market position. Huawei filled the space with its own Ascend processors, and Chinese buyers turned to them out of necessity rather than preference, the report suggests.

The exact basis for the 34 percent share figure remains unclear. JKN did not say whether it counted units shipped, revenue, or compute power. That distinction matters. A revenue-based share would overstate Nvidia's position, because its chips carry higher prices than Huawei's domestic alternatives.

How did Huawei reach 28 percent?

Huawei's Ascend 910B is the main vehicle for its gains. The chip does not match Nvidia's top parts on raw performance or software maturity. But it is available, and it is legal for Chinese firms to buy at scale.

Beijing has pushed state-backed buyers toward domestic silicon. Telecom operators, cloud providers and research institutions have complied. SMIC manufactures the Ascend line on its 7-nanometer-class process, a node it cannot yet produce at yields that match TSMC, according to industry analysts cited in related coverage.

That yield constraint caps Huawei's upside. It also explains why the company's 28 percent share, while large, still trails Nvidia's diminished 34 percent. Production capacity, not demand, is the binding limit on Huawei's growth.

Does the report hold up?

Caution is warranted. The share figures come from a single outlet. JKN did not publish underlying shipment or revenue data. Market share estimates for China's AI chip sector vary widely between research houses, because neither Nvidia nor Huawei discloses China-specific unit sales.

What is not said also matters. The report does not state a time window for the figures. It does not say whether the count includes smuggled Nvidia chips, which analysts believe still reach Chinese buyers in meaningful volumes. And it does not break out other domestic players, such as Cambricon or Baidu's Kunlun chips, which hold the remaining share.

What comes next?

The commercial picture favors continued erosion. Nvidia cannot legally ship its best silicon into China. Huawei can ship everything it can make. Unless Washington loosens the rules or Huawei hits a production wall, the gap between 34 and 28 percent will likely close further, and the direction of travel is not in Nvidia's favor.