How Huawei's expected new AI chip could disrupt the market

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How Huawei's expected new AI chip could disrupt the market

May 02, 2025

Details of the Ascend 910D processor remain scarce but it could be competitively priced, Huawei has not commented on the report.

Nevertheless, hype is building, along with interest on what this will mean for the industry, performance benchmarks and the wallets of users.

Chip history:

Through the years, Huawei has used third-party processors on its devices, including those from US-based Qualcomm and Taiwan's MediaTek.

That does not mean Huawei is new to the game: back in 1991, the company founded its chip arm HiSilicon, which would eventually collaborate with Britain's ARM Holdings and create its in-house chip, Kirin, similar to Samsung Electronics' Exynos and Apple's A line of processors.

At present, Huawei has a unit called Ascend Computing, dealing with AI infrastructure. Ascend shares the same name of a line-up of smartphones Huawei began selling in the early 2010s, even spilling over to the first Mate devices.

GPU v CPU:

A CPU, or central processing unit, has origins dating back to the 1950s and has been part of tech speak since. It basically acts as the brain of a computer, handling all processes.

On the other hand, a GPU – graphics processing unit – is a more specialised chip designed to support CPUs, specifically built to handle more complex tasks such as image rendering, video manipulation, AI workloads and everything gaming, its first major utility when GPUs popped up in arcades in the 1970s.

And while each processor is distinct, both are needed to meet varied computing demands, according to Intel.

CPU v GPU: What's the difference?
_________________________________

CPU
Generalised component that handles main processing functions of a server

GPU
Specialised component that excels at parallel computing

Feature
Processing

CPU
Designed for serial instruction processing

GPU
Designed for parallel instruction processing

Feature
Design

CPU
Fewer, more powerful cores

GPU
More cores than CPUs, but less powerful than CPU cores

Where do Huawei GPUs rank?

According to AIMultiple, an Estonia-based IT consultancy and research firm, Huawei GPUs ranked ninth for data centre workloads, based on multiple scenarios.

Unsurprisingly, Huawei chips are popular in China, especially as AI labs in the country could not buy the newest and best processors from US companies, AIMultiple noted.

In terms of value, it would be difficult to ascertain the value of Huawei's chip division, since it is a privately held company. California-based Nvidia has a market capitalisation of about $2.66 trillion, as of Thursday.

Top AI hardware companies for data centre workloads
Use the column header buttons to sort columns by ascending or descending orderCurrently not sorted
Rank
1

Company
Nvidia

Best for
Revenue and volume leader; first choice for most buyers who can secure supply

Rank
2

Company
AMD

Best for
Second in terms of market valuation

Rank
3

Company
Intel

Best for
CPU market leader playing catch up in GPUs

How much will it cost?
There are clues. Last month, Reuters reported Huawei was preparing to ship out its 910C chips, with further reports suggesting the company had received orders for about 70,000 units worth an estimated $2 billion.

That implies each processor would cost less than $29,000 – competitive considering Nvidia's H100 AI chips are believed to cost anywhere between $27,000 and $40,000. Bulk orders typically lower total costs.

Huawei's products – smartphones, laptops, wearables and others – have traditionally been priced lower than Samsung and Apple equivalents, allowing it to be more competitive. Before US sanctions hit hard, Huawei also ranked top for smartphones in 2018 and 2020 as the world's biggest manufacturer.

The success of Ascend 910D will depend on how the new chip performs and how widely it is accepted, but price tends to play a big role.