ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent place over $35 billion in Nvidia chip orders
NVDA•ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent ordered more than 3 million Nvidia RTX PRO 5500 workstation GPUs at about $11,400 each, for a potential combined value above $35 billion. Nvidia has told customers it cannot guarantee delivery, as China orders exceed 6 million and planned global production may reach no more than 3 million cards in 2027.
1. Orders outstrip supply
ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent have ordered more than 3 million Nvidia RTX PRO 5500 workstation graphics cards, with a potential combined sticker price above $35 billion. Nvidia has told customers and partners it cannot guarantee it can fill the orders because demand from Chinese technology companies far exceeds planned production. One source said partners might receive only 5% to 10% of requested quantities; another said Nvidia indicated it could produce no more than 3 million cards globally in 2027, while China orders have exceeded 6 million.
2. Export-compliant option
The RTX PRO 5500 is designed for professional workstations rather than large data-centre clusters, but is among Nvidia's most powerful chips still available to Chinese buyers. Chinese companies are seeking the cards mainly for AI inference, or running trained models to generate responses. Nvidia's B300 is barred from sale to Chinese buyers, while H200 exports are reviewed case by case and subject to licensing conditions.
3. Delivery timing and context
Nvidia has told customers to expect early samples in December, with commercial deliveries beginning in the first quarter of 2027. The sources said the company is expected to devote much of its capacity at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co to its Rubin platform from 2027. The RTX PRO 5500's predecessor, the RTX 6000D, has been discontinued, and one source said its market price in China has doubled.
