As demand for artificial intelligence continues to surge, the industry’s appetite for high-performance computing chips has grown increasingly intense. According to a report by the Commercial Times, NVIDIA’s next-generation Blackwell architecture chip, the GB200, has encountered new technical hurdles in its mass production plans. In response, CSP provider Microsoft is reportedly scaling back its orders.

Sources within the supply chain cited by Commercial Times reveal that the issue lies in the backplane connection design. The testing yield for cartridge connectors provided by U.S. Tier-1 supplier Amphenol has been suboptimal, potentially delaying mass production until March 2025.

The GB200 chips employ TSMC’s cutting-edge CoWoS-L advanced packaging technology, incorporating a highly complex cabinet design. However, this complexity has led to various challenges, including overheating in chip design, leakage issues in UQDs, and now, insufficient yield rates for copper cables. While NVIDIA announced during its recent earnings call that Blackwell production is fully underway, supply constraints remain a pressing issue that the company is working to resolve with its partners.

The same report, citing supply chain sources, attributes the issue to a newly developed cartridge connector module. The significant specification upgrade of the GB200 has increased production complexity, resulting in poor yield rates and failed testing, creating a major bottleneck.

NVIDIA is actively seeking alternative suppliers, but issues such as patent restrictions and capacity ramp-up delays are expected to prolong resolution efforts. While the report notes that chip production schedules remain unaffected, supply chain checks indicate that Microsoft has already cut its orders for NVIDIA by 40%, reallocating some to the GB300 chips set for release in mid-2025.

(Photo credit: NVIDIA)