Huawei expects AI chip revenue surge to $12 billion in 2026

Friday 01 May 2026 - 08:40

By: Dakir Madiha

Huawei expects AI chip revenue surge to $12 billion in 2026

Huawei is projecting a sharp rise in revenue from artificial intelligence chips, expecting at least a 60 percent increase to reach around $12 billion in 2026, up from $7.5 billion the previous year. The forecast is based on confirmed orders and reflects the company’s growing dominance in China’s domestic AI chip market as US export restrictions continue to limit access to advanced processors from Nvidia.

Demand has accelerated following the release of the DeepSeek V4 model in April, which has been optimized to run on Huawei’s Ascend 950 chip series. Major Chinese technology groups, including Alibaba, ByteDance and Tencent, are competing to secure supply as they expand their AI capabilities. Huawei confirmed that its Ascend SuperNode systems now fully support DeepSeek V4 models and contributed to the training of a lighter version known as V4-Flash.

The company plans to ship around 750,000 units of its 950PR processor in 2026, with mass production having started in April and full-scale deliveries expected in the second half of the year. Pricing for advanced AI models could decline later in the year as production ramps up, reflecting improved supply conditions tied to Huawei’s manufacturing scale.

The surge in demand signals a broader shift in China’s AI ecosystem toward technological self-reliance. DeepSeek has prioritized domestic chipmakers by granting early access to its latest models, moving away from previous reliance on Nvidia hardware. Analysts estimate Nvidia’s share of China’s AI chip market could fall to about 8 percent under current export controls, while Huawei’s share could rise to as much as 50 percent.

Huawei reported total revenue of 880.9 billion yuan, or about $127.8 billion, in 2025, with research and development spending reaching a record 192.3 billion yuan. Its Ascend ecosystem now includes more than four million developers, indicating growing adoption of its hardware and software platform.

Competition within China is intensifying. The Ascend 950PR chip, produced by SMIC using its N+3 manufacturing process, is assessed by analysts as delivering performance between Nvidia’s H100 and H200 processors. Other domestic players, including Cambricon and Hygon, have also adapted their systems to support DeepSeek V4 on the day of its release.

Market forecasts suggest China’s high-end AI chip sector will expand by more than 60 percent in 2026, with domestic suppliers expected to capture roughly half of that growth. The rapid scaling of Huawei’s chip production and ecosystem signals a structural shift in the global semiconductor landscape, driven by geopolitical constraints and rising demand for AI infrastructure.