AI Server Sales Have Doubled Since Last Year

This year's sales of the graphics processing unit (GPU)-based AI servers have doubled compared to the previous year. The organization is also changing to suit enterprises.

At an interview with a reporter, Eung Jun Yoo, General Manager of Nvidia Korea Enterprise Business Division, announced that “The first product, DGX-1, sold a total of 160 units, the third-highest after the U.S. and Japan”. He added that “more than 10 units of DGX-2s have been sold to Samsung since September”. He also emphasized, “the DGX station, a personal workstation concept, has sold more than 100 units in a year”.

The prices of DGX-1, DGX-2, and DGX stations ranges from 90 million Korean Won to 400 million Korean Won. Based on the sales figures at that price, it is estimated that sales of AI servers in South Korea will exceed $34 million (34 billion KRW).

NVIDIA is widely known as a fabless company. It is going to entrust a chip that it designed to a consignment production (foundry) company and the GPU from here is delivered to the finished product maker. Though NVIDIA does not sell finished products, it has started operating an enterprise in 2016 by releasing an AI server called 'DGX-1'. While they used to work with server businesses such as HPE and DellEMC, they are now competing against each other.

Yoo stated, "the AI server accounts for only 5% of the market". However, "the AI craze has contributed to the rise of the x86 server market, and is also positively impacting other server businesses," said Yoo.

He hinted that sales of HPE’s AI servers, which amounted to 100 billion Korean Won last year, grew to 200 billion Korean Won this year.

When asked how efficiently Korea and its headquarters are responding to situations where enterprise sales organizations and experiences are relatively lacking, he encouraged them to set an example. He stated that, "now, the headquarters has first changed and the organization and the business system have been connected systematically. It is not just about the sales of hardware, but it had to have software versatility. It would have been difficult without NVIDIA."

Eung Jun Yoo has vast experience in the enterprise industry, working with HP, Sun Microsystems, and Oracle. Since working for Nvidia Korea in May 2016, the enterprise business has more than tripled.