Selling like hotcakes: The Demand for Nvidia’s Blackwell GPUs
Nvidia’s latest Blackwell GPUs are in high demand, with the company reporting that they are sold out of these innovative processors. During an investors meeting hosted by Morgan Stanley, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang revealed that their Blackwell GPU products have a 12-month backlog, similar to the situation with Hopper GPUs in previous quarters.
The exceptional demand for Blackwell GPUs is coming from Nvidia’s traditional customers, including tech giants like AWS, Google, Microsoft, and others. These companies have purchased every Blackwell GPU Nvidia and TSMC can produce for the next four quarters. This surge in demand indicates that Nvidia’s presence in the AI processor market is set to grow significantly next year.
“Our view continues to be that Nvidia is likely to gain share of AI processors in 2025, as the biggest users of custom silicon are seeing very steep ramps with Nvidia solutions next year,” noted Morgan Stanley Analyst Joe Moore.
Nvidia introduced the Blackwell GPU platform earlier this year, featuring the B200 GPU and GB200 Grace “super chip.” These processors are designed to handle demanding workloads while reducing energy consumption, addressing a key concern in the industry.
Nvidia has addressed initial packaging issues with its B100 and B200 GPUs, enabling the company to increase production. However, questions remain about whether TSMC has enough capacity to meet the rising demand for these GPUs. Additionally, the supply of HBM3E memory, crucial for high-performance GPUs like Blackwell, poses another potential bottleneck in the production process.
Nvidia remains confident in its ability to ramp up Blackwell production in Q4 2024, despite facing challenges such as low yields and the need for processor re-spins. The company anticipates shipping several billion dollars worth of Blackwell GPUs in the last quarter of the year.
For more information, you can also check out the Nvidia Blackwell server installation showcase at Hot Chips 2024.
