Huawei Takes Aim at Nvidia: AI Chip Battle Heats Up in South Korea
Chinese tech giant Huawei is gearing up to launch its latest AI chips and related data-center hardware in South Korea in 2026, aiming to challenge Nvidia’s longtime dominance in the high-performance AI processor market. The move marks a bold step in the intensifying global race over AI infrastructure—and signals how geopolitical supply chains are reshaping where and how cutting-edge semiconductors are deployed. (AJU PRESS)
In a statement at its “Huawei Day 2025” event, Huawei Korea’s CEO Balian Wang confirmed plans to introduce the company’s Ascend AI processors and full data-center solutions to Korean businesses, startups, and research institutions. The goal is to give local players an alternative to Nvidia GPUs, which currently dominate AI computing workloads but face chronic supply limitations and geopolitical export hurdles. (AJU PRESS)
Huawei’s chips will be anchored on its Ascend architecture, with the Ascend 950 lineup expected to be among the first models entering the Korean market. Built using a fully Chinese supply chain—including HiSilicon design, SMIC manufacturing, and domestic high-bandwidth memory—these chips are meant to circumvent ongoing U.S. trade restrictions that limit access to advanced foreign components. (AJU PRESS)
Rather than selling individual processors alone, Huawei is pitching integrated clusters and end-to-end hardware-software solutions designed for AI data centers. This reflects a strategic attempt to compete beyond raw performance by offering complete infrastructure stacks and tighter support ecosystems. (Huawei Central)
Why This Matters
South Korea represents a highly strategic battleground. It’s home to leading memory manufacturers, cloud providers, and AI startups that rely heavily on robust AI computing power. Traditionally, most of that demand has been met by Nvidia’s GPUs—recognized industry-wide as the de facto standard for training and inference workloads. However, persistent supply tightness and geopolitical export pressures have left room for challengers. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Huawei’s expansion also illustrates a broader shift in the global semiconductor landscape: regional ecosystems are increasingly building independent supply chains and alternatives to U.S.-led technologies. With China accelerating domestic chip output and Korean players diversifying suppliers, the AI hardware market could see meaningful fragmentation—or new competitive dynamics—over the coming years. (The Business Times)
For Korean companies and researchers that have struggled to secure Nvidia hardware due to shortages or pricing barriers, Huawei’s entry may offer a viable second choice, even if performance ecosystems (like Nvidia’s CUDA software stack) remain industry favorites. (AJU PRESS)
Glossary
AI Chip – A specialized processor designed to accelerate artificial intelligence workloads such as neural network training and inference.
GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) – A type of processor optimized for parallel calculations; vital for large-scale AI model training. Nvidia’s GPUs are widely used in AI data centers.
Ascend – Huawei’s proprietary series of AI silicon designed by HiSilicon, intended to serve as alternatives to Nvidia GPUs.
Data-Center Infrastructure – Integrated hardware and software systems that power computing workloads for enterprise or cloud services.
High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM) – A type of fast memory used in high-performance processors to handle large data throughput in AI tasks.
Source
https://www.techinasia.com/news/huawei-to-launch-its-new-ai-chip-in-korea-to-rival-nvidia
