Nvidia will triple Blackwell shipments to 500,000 units next quarter

In the past week, well-known industry expert Ming-Chi Kuo could not stay away from the discussion of Nvidia’s plans to expand the production of Blackwell accelerators, who suggested that in the current quarter the company will be able to ship from 150 to 200 thousand accelerators of this family. but next year supply volumes will triple to 500 or 550 thousand units.

Image source: NVIDIA

Most actively, as Ming-Chi Kuo explains, Microsoft Corporation orders GB200 accelerators. In the fourth quarter, it will focus on purchasing GB200 NVL36 accelerators primarily for testing needs, and the company will prefer to purchase more powerful GB200 NVL72 systems even before Nvidia begins their mass deliveries in the middle of the second quarter. Microsoft will receive from Nvidia versions of the GB200 NVL72 adapted to its needs.

In the fourth quarter, Microsoft increased the volume of ordered GB200 accelerators three or four times, from 300–500 units to 1400–1500 units, and in the latter case, up to 70% of orders are for NVL72. Future orders will also focus on NVL72 series systems. The production of these accelerators is carried out by Foxconn, which discussed with partners its plans to increase production volumes by one and a half or two times during the fourth quarter. Quanta is also involved in similar activities. Both Nvidia contractors confirm that Microsoft receives the most systems based on GB200 accelerators compared to other customers.

Tellingly, Microsoft is going to start deploying data centers based on the GB200 from regions with colder climates to compensate for possible flaws in the optimization of the cooling system. Microsoft is purchasing Blackwell accelerators so actively that other Nvidia customers are running out of them.