NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang announced that its latest AI chip, Blackwell, will begin mass production in the fourth quarter of this year. He also shared an optimistic outlook, predicting that Blackwell will significantly boost NVIDIA’s revenue by billions of dollars.
During a conference call and media interview following NVIDIA’s earnings announcement for the second quarter (May to July) of this fiscal year, he stated, “Blackwell’s performance is many times higher than Hopper’s.”
Blackwell, also known as B200, was unveiled in March at NVIDIA’s GTC 2024 annual developer conference. It greatly outperforms the H100 Hopper chip delivered to clients. However, NVIDIA recently faced delays in Blackwell production.
Huang clarified that there was no design error with Blackwell, noting that while a minor design issue did occur, it was subsequently resolved. He added that NVIDIA has started sending Blackwell samples to clients today, and supply has begun. He emphasized that production of Blackwell will ramp up in the fourth quarter of this year, with a significant increase in supply anticipated next year. He expressed confidence that NVIDIA’s revenue will rise substantially starting from the first quarter of the next fiscal year (March to May) due to Blackwell, estimating that the increase in revenue would exceed billions of dollars.
Huang stressed that customer expectations for Blackwell are immense, while demand for Hopper remains strong. He noted that Hopper can fill the gap caused by the slight delay in Blackwell’s supply.
Regarding this, Huang predicted, “We have started mass production (Blackwell) and will begin shipping in the fourth quarter. We will generate billions of dollars in Blackwell revenue.” This indicates that NVIDIA can maintain revenue through Hopper even if Blackwell’s customer delivery is delayed.
Huang is confident that NVIDIA can boost revenue in various AI sectors beyond just AI chips. He explained that countries are increasingly interested in sovereign AI, positioning NVIDIA to capitalize on this growth. Huang remarked that all nations view AI data as a national resource. At GTC 2024 in March, he declared that NVIDIA’s goal is to become a comprehensive AI company, emphasizing a focus not only on AI chips but also on AI data centers.
Meanwhile, NVIDIA reported a staggering 122% year-over-year increase in revenue for the second quarter of this fiscal year, reaching $30.04 billion. The net profit more than doubled compared to the previous year, marking $16.5 billion. NVIDIA projected revenue of $32.5 billion for the third quarter (August to November), but the stock price fell 6.89% in after-hours trading due to signs of a slowing growth rate.
