Irina Tsukerman, president of global strategy advisory firm Scarab Rising, echoed a point made in the WSJ article that the situation involves two very different groups. The first is a group of people who are taking advantage of the loopholes “by legal means and are looking to make a quick profit for themselves.” The second group are professional smugglers who are bringing in the chips in large quantities.
The WSJ report interviewed various chip resellers who had little difficulty getting around US restrictions.
Chinese resale prices for the chips have fallen of late, but are still at a premium compared to standard list price. Nvidia’s A100 chip sells for $22,500 in China, compared to around $10,000 elsewhere, and the higher-end H100 for $32,400 instead of $25,000, the newspaper reported. “Some merchants said they have up to dozens of chips in stock at one time, and preorders of bigger quantities can be delivered in one to two weeks,” it said, noting that the chips are supplied in original wholesale packaging. The report quoted one distributor on how they get around restrictions. “It does become very hard, but don’t be silly, there is always a way.”
