Nvidia's China Deliveries Slump 44% as European Deals Take Shape

Nvidia is pressing ahead on two fronts this week — rolling out hardware and software while deepening ties across Europe — but a sharply weaker China business is tempering the upbeat narrative.

RTX Spark notebooks go global

The company said its RTX Spark notebooks are now available worldwide, built by ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Microsoft and MSI, with additional systems expected to follow. The breadth of that manufacturer list is the crux of the announcement: the offering does not hinge on a single notebook partner. How strongly availability translates into demand and revenue, however, cannot yet be inferred. For valuation purposes, what counts first is the marketing milestone reached, not a proven revenue contribution.

The rollout dovetails with yesterday's release of the open models Nemotron 3.5 Super VL and Bolt for agentic AI applications. The two announcements touch different parts of the portfolio — shipping notebooks on one side, new models for AI workloads on the other — and together signal that Nvidia is advancing its product work on hardware and software in parallel.

Mercedes deal confirmed, Berlin talks still unconfirmed

Mercedes-Benz and Nvidia announced an expanded strategic partnership, with the two companies set to jointly develop next-generation driver-assistance and automated driving systems. Unlike the notebooks already on sale, this is a development project rather than the delivery of finished systems.

Separately, Reuters reported, citing government sources, that Germany plans an agreement with Nvidia. Berlin intends to announce the cooperation next week, according to the report, aiming to broaden industrial AI adoption and bring in additional partners. The reported financing terms and conditions remain unconfirmed.

That distinction matters for investors: the Mercedes-Benz collaboration is announced, while the Germany arrangement is so far a media report. The two cannot be assessed with the same degree of certainty.

China share slips to 34%

Against those expansion headlines stands a weaker China business. Reuters reported Tuesday, citing IDC, that Nvidia's share of China's data-center AI chip market fell to 34% in the first half of 2026.

That puts a purely positive reading of the recent news in perspective. New products and partnerships widen the business opportunities, but they do not automatically offset regional declines.

During that half-year period, Nvidia shipped 678,000 accelerators in China — 44% fewer than a year earlier, according to IDC. The key question for investors is whether broader product availability and development partnerships generate enough business to counter such pressures. Today's announcements demonstrate progress on offerings and partnerships, not yet a corresponding financial offset.

Europe build-out extends beyond Berlin

The possible Germany agreement is still at the planning stage. Neither the stated investments — which could run into several hundred million euros — nor the expected announcement should be equated with a completed cooperation. What matters is whether the reported plans become a binding agreement. The report concerns potential investments, not revenue already booked for Nvidia, and a political cooperation and concrete business returns are different measures. The possible Germany step thus complements the European engagement without yet evidencing a quantifiable earnings contribution.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang appeared yesterday at a company event on Sweden's AI ecosystem in Stockholm. Nvidia also described the joint supercomputer initiative Sferical One, based on Nvidia systems and backed by a consortium whose central members include AstraZeneca, Ericsson, Saab, SEB and Wallenberg Investments. The European engagement is therefore not limited to a possible government cooperation; the Swedish initiative links Nvidia technology with several companies and a shared computing offering — a different approach from the also-announced support for research in the UK.

On Wednesday, Nvidia pledged a five-year computing donation valued at $250 million to support British research into the safety and protection of agentic AI. The commitment explicitly concerns computing power and should not be read as an equivalent cash inflow to research institutions. Add to that equity arrangements in France: Reuters reported that Nvidia agreed Tuesday to acquire minority stakes in Doctolib and Genesis AI. Neither the size of the stake nor the transaction value was disclosed for Doctolib. For investors, the agreements show another route through which Nvidia is building relationships with European technology companies.

GTC Berlin sets the next date

GTC Berlin is scheduled for October 20 to 22, with Huang's keynote set for October 21. That places a confirmed company appearance in the same week in which the possible Germany cooperation announcement is expected. The two should still be viewed separately: the conference date is confirmed, while the Germany agreement remains a media report about plans. Nvidia's European activities offer concrete points of contact — the next relevant step would be confirmation of the actual scope and binding nature of any cooperation with Germany.