US export controls cause Nvidia RTX 4090 prices to soar in China

After the initial shockwave sent through the Chinese market due to the export ban on Nvidia's GeForce RTX 4090 chips, the US Commerce Department issued a surprising exemption on Thursday that will permit the export of chips for consumer applications.

"As part of these updates, we are also introducing an exemption that will permit the export of chips for consumer applications," the US Commerce Department said on its website.

A previous export ban issued by the department would mean Nvidia will no longer be able to export its RTX 4090 gaming card to China under updated technology export controls.

As a result, the price of Nvidia's graphics cards, particularly the GeForce RTX 4090, has skyrocketed in China. The RTX 4090 has seen its price jump by thousands of Chinese yuan.

In some places, these cards have even sold out.

Surprisingly, the price surge and the shortage of cards aren't due to increased demand. Instead, people are hoarding these cards in the hopes of selling them at higher prices later on.

This trend has been reported by vendors in Shanghai and Shenzhen. Notably, when the RTX 4090 cards first came to the market last year, they were priced at just 12,999 yuan.

The price of the RTX 4090 cards on Thursday shot up to 20,000 yuan (US$2,735) at Huaqiangbei, one of the world's largest electronics markets in Shenzhen.

On e-commerce websites, they are now selling for anywhere between 16,500 yuan and 29,999 yuan. The most advanced RTX 4090 models can cost over 30,000 yuan.

Other Nvidia graphics cards, such as the RTX 4080, have also seen price increases, although not as dramatic as the RTX 4090.