Tokyo
Cnn
B (b (b (
An electronics store in Tokyo has apologized after hundreds of Chinese buyers who arrived there to raise their hands on the latest NVIDIA gaming chips.
The subsequent turmoil, which went viral on Japanese social media, was an upgraded and a physical manifestation of the effects of the US -China Tech War at concerts in search of sellers of catering.
According to Electronics China PC Kobo, 400 people showed 400 people last week in Akhihabara, a famous shopping district to buy video games, manga and mobile phones.
Buyers are causing obstacles to the floor due to rims and the shop was eventually forced to cancel the sale due to pride on the nearby property. He apologized earlier this week.
“We formally offer our deep apology for the great turmoil that has burdened and upset their customers, neighboring communities and related parties,” PC Kobo said in a statement on Monday.
Taizo Hashida, a director of the unit work, who is owned by China, told CNN on Wednesday that the hopeful buyer was about 90 % of Chinese -speaking users.
New graphics cards, which were launched on January 30 and have been sought from the sports enthusiasts, promise better processing speed and photo -offering ability. This means that they provide better visual and a smooth game experience.
But this series is not available in China, which is subject to US export restrictions on advanced computer chips. These steps are part of Washington’s efforts to prevent its competitors from accessing modern technology, which can strengthen artificial intelligence (AI) system and weapons development.
The Chinese concert says they are receiving what they call the “Castard Version” of NVIDIA’s latest release. The company has developed a modified version specially for the Chinese market with a slow AI component. This contradiction has promoted the current generation of demand in places like Japan.
Gul Loria, head of Tech Research in Investment Group DA Davidson, said US sanctions apply to the latest cards as they can be used to produce AI tools.
“The difference between the permitted chips and limited chips can be meaningful, which is why they will be looking for them in other markets,” he said.
Last Thursday, PC Kobo offered to sell dozens of Jeffourus series, including 10 out of Top RTX 5090 chips and 47 RTX 5080 chips, to those who had its Akhihabara store But the lottery was won. But he said in a Monday statement that turnout is much higher than his expectations.
Videos circulated online showed scenes of chaos near the store, hundreds of buyers were squeezing into a narrow floor and spreading on the road.
The footage stated that the calls were ignored by the staff to configure the line, at least one person climbed to the fence to enter the nearby kindergarten. According to local media, a mark hanging on a fence in kindergarten was taken away in half.
The store called the sale and launched a two -day online lottery for Tuesday, resulting in the announcement later.
This was not the first time that NVIDIA made the gaming chip for the Chinese market to comply with US export controls.
According to Reuters, last year, Nodia started selling Chinese -based RTX 4090D, which was 5 % slower in gaming performance compared to its international version RTX 4090.
The current version RTX 5090 The 3,352 trillion operations sold outside China can handle (Tops) per second. Equivalent to it in the Chinese market, RTX 5090dAccording to the features on the website, only 2,375 offers offer tips, making it about 29 29 % less powerful. Both versions share the same features in other areas.
The high demand of the sky
Compared to about $ 2,600 in Japan, RTX 5090 chip in the United States costs $ 1,999. It is amended cousin RTX 5090D sold for about $ 2,270 in China.
The latest generation cards in China are so high that Chinese sellers are already advertising chips purchased out of the country on the Chinese e -commerce platform Taoobao.
There are several posts to ask for points to buy or present points to buy chips overseas, on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, or Rednt.
One user said he wanted to buy from South Korea. “Tell me about the danger. Should I see anything? He wrote.
Another user, who claimed to be a student in Thailand, said he wanted to make some money to support his education.
The man wrote, “The student in Thailand is hoping to make some money for my tuition fee.” “If I bring back some RTX 5090s, will there be rich people who will take them?”
CNN has reached Nvidia for comment.
