Nvidia expects next-gen Blackwell GPUs to be supply constrained
Demand continues to outpace supply.
Just days after an analyst said that lead times for Nvidia's Hopper-based H100 GPUs used for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) had dropped significantly, Nvidia said that it expected to be supply constrained with its next-generation Blackwell-based GPU products.
"We expect our next-generation products to be supply constrained as demand far exceeds supply," said Colette Kress, chief financial officer of Nvidia, during the company's earnings call with financial analysts and investors (via SeekingAlpha).
Nvidia's next-generation B100 products are based on the all-new Blackwell architecture that promises to significantly improve performance of AI compute compared to the existing Hopper architecture, according to the company's performance projections. Given sheer demand for high-performance AI processors on the market, it is likely that Nvidia's existing customers have already pre-ordered at least some B100 products.
The only question, how fast will Nvidia be able to ramp up production of B100 SXM modules and B100 PCIe cards as well as DGX servers on their base. After all, these are brand new products using different components.
It is rumored that the Blackwell will be Nvidia's first architecture to adopt multi-chiplet designs. If this is the case, this may simplify production of Blackwell-based GPUs on the silicon level as it is easier to maximize yields of smaller chips. But on the other hand, packaging of multi-chiplet solutions gets more complex.
It is noteworthy that in addition to the flagship B100 AI and HPC GPU for training and inference, Nvidia preps B40 GPU for enterprise and training applications, GB200 product that combines B100 GPU and Arm-based Grace CPU, and GB200 NVL for training of large language models.
Back in November Nvidia introduced its H200 compute GPU for AI and HPC workloads and right now the company is ramping up in production. Nvidia's H200 relies on the Hopper architecture and basically refreshes the company's existing product lineup with higher memory capacity and bandwidth. As Nvidia has refined its Hopper supply chain since 2022, the product ramp should be relatively rapid. Nonetheless, Nvidia's Jensen Huang complains that the company cannot meet 100% demand for this new product immediately.
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"Whenever we have new products, as you know, it ramps from zero to a very large number and and you cannot do that overnight," said Jensen Huang, chief executive of Nvidia, at the quarterly earnings call with analysts and investors. "[…] So, whenever we have a new generation of products, and right now, we are ramping H200, there is no way we can reasonably keep up on demand in the short term as we ramp."
Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.
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hannibal Supply constrained...Reply
Good, good!
Now we can sell them at even higher price!
... sigh... -
pug_s Why sell GPUs to consumers for little profit when you can sell AI CPU's for a prince's sum?Reply -
hotaru251 Reply
Jensen said they are not a gpu company anymore they are an ai company....just never changed name.pug_s said:Why sell GPUs to consumers for little profit when you can sell AI CPU's for a prince's sum? -
The Historical Fidelity Smells like artificial scarcity being utilized to justify “bend-over-backwards” pricing….Reply -
The Historical Fidelity Reply
Yeah, until the AI bubble pops and they come crawling back to the gamers that supported them since the beginning. I hope gamers instead buy Intel and AMD cards to send them a message.hotaru251 said:Jensen said they are not a gpu company anymore they are an ai company....just never changed name. -
Eximo AMD and Intel are going to do the same. Why make GPUs when you can make AI chips with the same underlying technology applies universally. Particularly if Intel starts fabbing their own GPUs instead of everyone using TSMC.Reply
If gamers get pushed into the smaller silicon, as long as the gaming performance goes up it shouldn't be too bad. Might not see another 4090, 1080 Ti jump ever again though. I kind of hope they drive towards lower power again instead of 450W cards. -
hotaru251 Reply
its won't pop.The Historical Fidelity said:until the AI bubble pops
Unlike crypto its not volatile & has a great deal of future growth. -
TDRare Reply
Not a GPU company. So they build the market, are the biggest player, with massive share, then decide to start walking away because there's profit elsewhere? Going to make PC gaming difficult and liklely drive prcing into the stratosphere. Sigh.hotaru251 said:Jensen said they are not a gpu company anymore they are an ai company....just never changed name. -
UnforcedERROR Reply
Absolutely won't happen, at least not in the foreseeable future. Also, AMD has treated us hardly any better with their card pricing relative to NVidia. Sure, the cards are cheaper, but there are corners being cut that even out the cost. It's not like AMDs cards are notably cheaper.The Historical Fidelity said:Yeah, until the AI bubble pops and they come crawling back to the gamers that supported them since the beginning. I hope gamers instead buy Intel and AMD cards to send them a message.