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Singapore accounted for less than 1% of Nvidia's (NVDA, Financials) total revenue during the August-October 2024 period, according to Singapore's Second Minister for Trade and Industry, Tan See Leng, according to a Bloomberg report.
The figure highlights the distinction between Nvidia's reported sales and its physical shipments, as a significant portion of the company's transactions in Singapore reflect billing practices rather than product distribution.
Although 22% of Nvidia's revenues during the time may be ascribed to Singapore, this is mostly due to the nation's function as a procurement center for international companies, Tan added. Many businesses distribute goods overseas yet concentrate on buying in Singapore.
The revelation coincides with a U.S. probe into whether Chinese artificial intelligence firm DeepSeek received sophisticated semiconductors from third parties in Singapore to circumvent U.S. export limits. Concerned about artificial intelligence research and national security, Washington has increased export restrictions on high-performance semiconductors to China.
Though the U.S. is closely examining how businesses in China may have gotten limited technology, Nvidia has said it does not think DeepSeek violated export control regulations.
According to Tan, Singapore's customs and law enforcement agencies are working with American officials on this issue. He underlined once again that Singapore does not encourage companies using their presence in the nation to get around trade limitations imposed by other countries.
Based in Hangzhou, DeepSeek recently introduced R1, a chatbot meant to rival top U.S. AI systems. The startup's rapid growth has attracted attention to its possible dependence on Western technologies, especially Nvidia's AI-oriented CPUs.
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.