Nvidia’s Huang visits TSMC as server price hikes loom

Nvidia ↘ 0.98% CEO Jensen Huang touched down in Taipei on Friday via private jet for a brief visit to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. ↗ 0.17%, his third trip to the island this year. The visit comes just days before Nvidia reports second-quarter earnings on Wednesday and amid news that the chipmaker's customers face server price increases of more than 15%.

Meeting With TSMC

Speaking to reporters at Taipei's Songshan Airport shortly after landing, Huang said his primary reason for the trip was to meet with TSMC executives. He told local media that Nvidia is working with TSMC on six new chips, including a central processing unit, a graphics processing unit, and NVLink chips used in switch production.ocac

"All of these chips are now in TSMC's fabs," Huang said. "I came to thank all of the people for working hard for me."ocac

Describing TSMC as "one of the greatest companies in the history of humanity," Huang said he planned to have dinner with TSMC executives before departing Taiwan the same evening. His previous visit in May included a three-hour dinner with TSMC Chairman C.C. Wei ahead of GTC Taipei and Computex.focustaiwan+1

Price Hikes and Earnings Pressure

The Taiwan trip coincides with Bloomberg's report, first published Saturday, that Nvidia's largest customers have been notified of price increases exceeding 15% on servers containing its AI chips. The hikes will apply to systems shipping early next year equipped with the flagship Vera Rubin and Grace Blackwell processors, with exact increases depending on chip generation and memory configuration.fortune+1

Server manufacturers have begun informing major data center operators including Microsoft ↗ 0.92%, Alphabet's ↘ 1.37% Google, and Oracle ↗ 2.78% of the coming increases, driven by soaring memory chip costs.cnbc+1

What's Next

Nvidia is scheduled to report fiscal second-quarter results on Wednesday, August 26. Analysts project quarterly revenue between $91 billion and $95 billion, which would represent continued growth from the $46.7 billion reported in the same quarter a year earlier. During his January visit to Taipei, Huang had told suppliers that TSMC "needs to exert considerable effort this year since I require a significant number of wafers," underscoring ongoing capacity pressures across the AI supply chain.intellectia+4