ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent have ordered more than 3 million Nvidia RTX PRO 5500 graphics cards with a combined sticker price above $35 billion, Reuters reported, citing two people familiar with the matter. Nvidia has told customers and partners it cannot guarantee filling the orders because demand from Chinese technology companies far exceeds planned production, Reuters reported, citing those two people and a third.
The RTX PRO 5500 is an export-compliant workstation card designed for professional computers, rather than the large data-center clusters that use Nvidia's most advanced AI processors. Reuters describes it as among the most powerful Nvidia chips still available to Chinese buyers. Under U.S. export controls, Nvidia's B300 cannot be sold to Chinese buyers; H200 exports face case-by-case review and licensing conditions. Reuters' three sources expect Chinese companies to use the RTX PRO 5500 primarily for AI inference, or running trained models to generate responses.
The potential supply gap is substantial, though the figures are attributed estimates: One source said Nvidia told partners they might receive only 5% to 10% of the quantities requested. Another said Nvidia had indicated it could produce no more than 3 million RTX PRO 5500 cards globally in 2027. Orders from customers in China have exceeded 6 million, two sources said. Reuters' sources said Nvidia told customers to expect early samples in December 2026 and commercial deliveries beginning in the first quarter of 2027. ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
