Misinterpretation? Dell Bans Sale of Some GPU in China

Recently, according to a sales consultation guide reportedly released by Dell, products equipped with AMD's Radeon and Instinct series GPUs, including Radeon RX 7900 XTX, Radeon RX 7900 XT, Radeon PRO W7900, and the upcoming Instinct MI300, are now prohibited from being sold in China.

Dell's sales consultation report highlights a range of AMD products that are now banned from sales in China and 22 other regions. The report reveals that the banned products include GPUs such as Radeon RX 7900 XT, Radeon RX 7900 XTX, and Radeon PRO W7900. Additionally, Dell's self-imposed product list restrictions also cover products featuring Instinct MI210, MI250, MI250X, and MI300 series AI data center and HPC GPUs.

However, a quick examination of the specifications of AMD's consumer-grade GPUs suggests that they may not require an export license from the U.S. government. While the U.S. government prohibits the sale of GPUs with 4800 Total Performance Processing in specific regions, the Radeon PRO W7900, with its peak half-precision (FP16) performance of 122.64 TFLOPs, should only have 1962 TPP, significantly lower than the specification. Similarly, the AMD Radeon Instinct MI250X performs at 383 TOPS for INT8, which performs at approximately 3064 TPP. Therefore, if this document is indeed an official release from Dell, it could be a result of their misinterpretation of the new export rules. 

Neither Dell nor AMD have responded to these claims.

It is worth noting that the computer market is still experiencing a slump, as global economic uncertainty and demand continue to impact the PC market. According to market research firm IDC, global PC shipments in the third quarter of 2023 reached 68.2 million units, a decline of 7.6% compared to the same period last year.

Among the top five brands in terms of shipment volume, Lenovo secured the first position with 16 million units, capturing a market share of 23.5%, a 5.0% decrease compared to the previous year. Dell, on the other hand, shipped 11.8 million units, holding a market share of 17.3%, experiencing a 1% decline year-on-year.