Cambricon’s 4000% Revenue Explosion Puts China on Collision Course with Nvidia Dominance

China's semiconductor underdog just delivered a knockout quarter—and the global AI chip race will never be the same.

Cambricon Technologies, once considered a distant follower in the AI processor space, just posted a staggering 4000% revenue surge. That's not a typo. While Nvidia was busy counting its billions, this homegrown contender quietly built a war chest.

The Domestic Demand Engine

Chinese tech giants—from Baidu to Tencent—are scrambling for domestic AI solutions amid tightening export controls. Cambricon didn't just benefit from patriotic procurement; it delivered chips that actually compete on performance metrics critical for neural network training.

Geopolitics Meets Moore's Law

When your largest competitor gets locked out of your biggest market, opportunity comes knocking with a sledgehammer. Cambricon's architecture bypasses traditional design constraints, leveraging unique neural processing units that outperform in specific AI workloads. They're not beating Nvidia at everything—just at the things Chinese companies actually need.

The Financial Reality Check

Let's be real: a 4000% surge probably means last year's numbers were embarrassingly low. But when you're competing against a company that became a trillion-dollar behemoth, sometimes you take growth wherever you can find it—even if it smells slightly of government subsidies and forced adoption.

The bottom line? Nvidia still owns the global AI infrastructure, but Cambricon just proved China doesn't need permission to play the game—they're rewriting the rules entirely.

China restricts Nvidia chips and backs local makers like Cambricon

Earlier this year, the U.S. government blocked Nvidia from selling its low-performance H20 AI chips to China. That ban didn’t last. The TRUMP administration later allowed Nvidia to resume exports, but there’s a new rule: 15% of every dollar Nvidia earns from China has to be sent to the U.S. government. So the sale comes with a tax.

Still, China is not encouraging local buyers to pick up Nvidia’s H20 chip, even if it’s technically back on the market. Sources say officials have warned firms to avoid relying on U.S. parts when possible.

As a result, companies are combining whatever Nvidia stock they’ve hoarded with chips made at home. That’s where Cambricon and other Chinese names come in.

Cambricon said Wednesday it’s working on better software and developing next-gen hardware to handle the growing number of local AI workloads.

That’s important because Nvidia isn’t just ahead on chip specs. It also has a huge ecosystem of software that developers already use. Cambricon knows that. It’s trying to close the gap.

According to S&P Capital IQ, Cambricon’s market cap has jumped by over $40 billion this year, bringing its total valuation to about $80 billion. The stock has more than doubled in 2025 alone. A lot of that momentum is coming from local demand and state support.

But Cambricon, and all other Chinese chipmakers, still have a long road ahead. Despite the record profit, its technology is still far behind Nvidia’s.

And the export restrictions from the U.S. mean Chinese firms don’t have access to the tools and machines needed to make the most advanced chips. That makes it harder to catch up, no matter how much money they make.

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