Chinese AI chip prices have jumped sharply over the past two months and the reason traces back to memory costs. High-bandwidth memory, known as HBM, is a special component that helps AI chips handle huge amounts of data quickly. Because HBM has grown scarce worldwide, the cost of building each chip has climbed sharply.
As a result, major chipmakers such as Huawei and Cambricon have passed those higher costs on to buyers. However, the trend matters beyond pricing. Beijing wants Chinese companies to build AI chips without depending on Nvidia but rising memory costs threaten to slow the effort down.
Chinese AI Chip Prices Surge
For example, Huawei’s Ascend 950PR card cost about 60,000 yuan in January. By September, the price had climbed past 80,000 yuan, a jump of nearly 30%. The company’s older 910C board moved from roughly 90,000 yuan to more than 110,000 yuan.
Furthermore, Huawei’s newest chip, the Ascend 950DT, follows the same pattern. The card now costs over 250,000 yuan, about $37,255. Yet, it will not reach the market until the fourth quarter of 2026.
Moreover, other Chinese chipmakers are following the same path. Cambricon has priced its upcoming 690 chip 20% to 30% higher than it quoted two months ago. Smaller companies, including MetaX and Iluvatar CoreX, have raised prices as well.
HBM Costs Drive the Shortage
High-bandwidth memory stacks several memory chips on top of each other. This design lets AI processors move data much faster than standard memory allows. Only three companies build advanced HBM at scale: SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron.
However, all three now send most of their supply to Nvidia and AMD first. As a result, less HBM remains available for Chinese buyers. The shortage grew worse after Washington restricted advanced HBM exports to China in December 2024.
In response, Chinese chipmakers turned to unofficial, or grey-market, suppliers instead. Memory makes up a large share of each chip’s cost, so higher HBM prices raise chip prices directly. DRAM contract prices rose 93% to 98% in early 2026 alone.
Consequently, memory suppliers now favor large AI companies over smaller buyers as demand climbs. Industry warnings issued in September suggest supply constraints could worsen before they ease.
Impact on China’s Chip Strategy
The memory shortage creates a deeper problem for China’s chip ambitions. China already produces strong logic chips, the core processors, through SMIC and other foundries. However, advanced memory manufacturing remains completely outside Chinese control.
Because of this gap, Chinese chipmakers must import HBM through costly, unofficial channels. In turn, cloud providers and AI labs will pay higher bills for computing power.
Looking ahead, the pressure is expected to grow rather than fade. HBM contract prices could rise more than 50% in 2027. Some forecasts suggest 2027 could bring the industry’s worst supply shortage yet.
Until then, Chinese chipmakers will keep paying a premium for every AI chip they build. For now, rising AI chip prices remain a direct result of the global memory squeeze. The squeeze shows no sign of easing anytime soon.
