NVIDIA Reportedly Fires Unusual Criticism at Suppliers Like Samsung Before Supply Agreements, All to Gain Pricing Leverage

NVIDIA has been front-running supplier deals since shortages began, but according to BusinessKorea, the AI giant has a rather ‘interesting’ tactic for securing agreements.

NVIDIA’s Recent Audit of a Key Samsung Facility Involved “Unusual Criticism”; Reports Say It Is a Tactic To Gain Pricing Leverage

The AI supply chain is not only one of the most complex but also involves players sought out by the world’s largest manufacturers, such as NVIDIA, AMD, and others. And the AI industry has been a ‘buyer-dominated’ market for several years now, especially in segments like HBM, where, for NVIDIA and others, the idea is to secure optimal arrangements that focus on the best capacity and pricing. BusinessKorea reports that Team Green has employed a negotiation policy focused on a “pre-emptive pressure tactic” against suppliers like Samsung and TSMC, and apparently, it has worked out.

It is claimed that NVIDIA’s inspection team paid a visit to Samsung’s Pyeongtaek Campus, which is known to be one of the firm’s most advanced semiconductor lines and is currently responsible for HBM processes. The NVIDIA team had conducted an “internal audit”, where it is reported that they had an unusual attitude towards the Korean giant’s operations, and that the team was involved in “extremely high-level” criticism regarding technical details. The report also claims that the recent audit differed from previous ones because the validation standards were set ‘too…