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Huawei to ship 700,000 Ascend AI chips in 2025 despite yield challenges
Mizuho Securities forecasts that Huawei will ship 700,000 Ascend AI chips by 2025, despite yield issues limiting production. The Ascend 910c promises robust performance, akin to NVIDIA's H100, but low yield rates hinder supply. With the U.S. ban on specific NVIDIA models in China, Huawei's chip becomes a more appealing choice in that market.
Key points
- Mizuho Securities' analyst predicts Huawei to ship 700,000 Ascend AI chips by 2025.
- Production yield issues significantly limit shipment volumes, estimated at 30% for Ascend 910c.
- Ascend 910c combines two Ascend 910b chips, achieving up to 800 TFLOP/s computing power.
- The chip uses a 7nm process with DUV lithography, contributing to low yield rates.
- The U.S. ban on NVIDIA's H20 chips enhances the attractiveness of Huawei's Ascend 910c in the Chinese market.
Why it matters
- The competitive landscape in AI chips is shifting, especially with U.S.-China tensions affecting technology trade.
- In 2025, trends in AI chip demand may reflect heightened reliance on domestic alternatives due to geopolitical constraints.
- Previous U.S. sanctions on tech companies are driving innovation in Chinese companies like Huawei.
Huawei's commitment to ship 700,000 Ascend AI chips highlights the ongoing struggle with production yield, but positions the brand favorably amidst U.S. sanctions on NVIDIA, likely reshaping the AI chip market by 2025.