Nvidia chip prices soar in Asia on U.S. curbs and AI boom

HONG KONG/TAIPEI -- In the depths of Taiwan's largest electronics market, Guanghua Digital Plaza, purchasing agents dashed from one store to another last October, sweeping Nvidia's RTX 4090 graphics cards onto flatbed trolleys and leaving shelves empty of the premium chips.

The buyers unzipped fanny packs filled with wads of cash and paid millions of New Taiwan dollars for the goods, retailers who spoke to Nikkei Asia recalled.