Nvidia - "We're Not Anywhere Near Close" to meeting GPU demand

'Itâ??s a good problem to have' - Jensen Huang

| Source: Tech Crunch Author: Mark Campbell

Nvidia - "We're Not Anywhere Near Close" to meeting GPU demand





Yesterday, Nvidia



When asked about Nvidia's supply problem, Jensen admitted that it is "a real challenge" keeping graphics cards on the market for gamers. When asked about the company's solution to the problem Jensen stated that "We have to build a lot more," and that "The video supply chain is working really hard" to address the issue.



Jensen has stated that cryptocurrency demand only accounts for a small percentage of Nvidia's business, though today's market conditions seem to indicate that Cryptocurrency mining is a much bigger deal than Jensen claims. The simple fact of the matter is that Nvidia has no way of telling whether or not their GPUs are used for gaming or mining, making it difficult to say how much of the market cryptocurrency mining accounts for. In a recent interview with Tech Crunch, Nvidia's CEO, Jensen Huang, discussed the topic of GPU demand and cryptocurrency mining at length, admitting that the company is "frustrated [that] so many developers and gamers around the world cannot get access to their GeForces".Yesterday, Nvidia replenished their stock of Founders Edition GPUs in their UK store , selling these graphics cards at their MSRP prices. This stock of GPUs sold out almost immediately, showcasing how much pent-up demand there is for Geforce products.When asked about Nvidia's supply problem, Jensen admitted that it is "a real challenge" keeping graphics cards on the market for gamers. When asked about the company's solution to the problem Jensen stated that "We have to build a lot more," and that "The video supply chain is working really hard" to address the issue.Jensen has stated that cryptocurrency demand only accounts for a small percentage of Nvidia's business, though today's market conditions seem to indicate that Cryptocurrency mining is a much bigger deal than Jensen claims. The simple fact of the matter is that Nvidia has no way of telling whether or not their GPUs are used for gaming or mining, making it difficult to say how much of the market cryptocurrency mining accounts for.





We’re sold out of many of our high-end SKUs, and so it’s a real challenge keeping [graphic cards] in the marketplace for games.



At the highest level the way to think about that is because of the philosophy of cryptocurrency — which is really about taking advantage of distributed high-performance computing — there are supercomputers in the hands of almost everybody in the world so that no singular force or entity that can control the currency. This still doesn’t change the fact that I’m frustrated so many developers and gamers around the world cannot get access to their GeForces, We have to build a whole lot more, The video supply chain is working really hard, and you know all of our partners are working around the clock. We’ve got to come closer to the demand of the market. And right now, we’re not anywhere near close to that and so we’re just going to have to keep running. It’s a good problem to have, I still wish that we can put more GPUs in the hands of gamers that want to play PUBG.

One of the major problems which prevent both AMD and Nvidia from manufacturing enough GPUs is the availability of DRAM, either in the form of GDDR5, GDDR5X and HBM2. The world is currently experiencing a NAND shortage thanks to the growing popularity of smartphones and other mobile devices, which has lead to manufacturers pulling resources away from GPU memory towards DDR4, constraining GDDR5/HBM2 supplies before the mining boom started.



When combined with other factors it is clear that Nvidia and AMD cannot solve their problems by creating more GPU dies, as other supply chain issues will prevent production. Silicon Wafers have also seen price increases in recent quarters, which again has made thing difficult, partially contributing to the increased GPU prices.



Beyond this, market factors come into play, with demand driving up GPU pricing and reports of mining outfits purchasing GPUs in bulk from retailers or AIBs directly.



While the demand for GPUs from miners is not as high as it was at the start of 2018, it is clear that things remain far from normal. Later this year DRAM prices are expected to decrease, thanks to the opening of new production facilities from several NAND manufacturers, which in-turn will have a knock-on effect on the availability of GDDR5/HBM2 memory. In time the GPU market should return to normal.



You can join the discussion on Nvidia's admission that they are "Not Anywhere Near Close" to meeting GPU demand on the OC3D Forums.

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