Ask HN: Why don't GPU/TPU manufacturers commoditize their RAM complement
4•DoctorOetker•11h ago
Wouldn't say nvidia sell more GPU's if RAM prices were lowered? What prevents them from buying up IP / RAM fab labs and commoditizing the blueprints for its manufacture? Perhaps to the public at large, or perhaps just relicensing it for very low prices to entities in friendly nations?
Comments
theandrewbailey•10h ago
RAM isn't their business, and that market has lots of ups and downs. What happens to Nvidia's hypothetical RAM investments when the AI rush is over and RAM is cheap and can't compete in that market? They've come to the logical conclusion to let the RAM companies do their thing.
onion2k•10h ago
They spend a billion or twenty persuading everyone that they need more RAM, and software developers bloat their apps until it's true. The market for memory continues to thrive.
DoctorOetker•9h ago
Sure the market will have ups and downs, commoditizing your complement is not an investment in the complement, its an investment in their business to increase sales of their primary market by decreasing costs for their customers.
They can choose how strong they commoditize their complement: perhaps buying up and expanding operations of RAM manufacture (an investment indeed, or a revenue insurance if a GPU competitor springs up), or more expensive buying up IP and licensing IP below market prices to novel RAM factories in friendly nations perhaps with exclusive priority or agreed prices for RAM at specified volumes etc., or even more expensive buying up IP and putting in public domain. The most optimal depth of commoditization would have to be calculated by such a GPU manufacturer.
raw_anon_1111•8h ago
No commoditizing your complements is buying up your complements, it’s either working with a standards committee together with the also rans to take on the market leader or open sourcing your competitive product to sell more of what you care about.
Sevii•8h ago
RAM is already a commodity.
DoctorOetker•4h ago
"commoditize your complement" is an expression, and thus means more than just the individual meanings of the words combined.
kristianp•1h ago
In terms of data centre gpus, HBM is far from a commodity as only a one or two manufacturers can fabricate the stacks of RAM.
theandrewbailey•10h ago
onion2k•10h ago
DoctorOetker•9h ago
They can choose how strong they commoditize their complement: perhaps buying up and expanding operations of RAM manufacture (an investment indeed, or a revenue insurance if a GPU competitor springs up), or more expensive buying up IP and licensing IP below market prices to novel RAM factories in friendly nations perhaps with exclusive priority or agreed prices for RAM at specified volumes etc., or even more expensive buying up IP and putting in public domain. The most optimal depth of commoditization would have to be calculated by such a GPU manufacturer.
raw_anon_1111•8h ago